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On Sunday, Day 3 of the fourth Test between India and England in Ranchi, Ashwin took all this noise, wrapped it in a satin cloth and left it to dry. The ace India spinner took his 35th five-wicket haul and, with a marvelous assist of 4/22 from Kuldeep Yadav, bowled out England for 145. Ashwin sparked England’s collapse, reducing them to 65/3 before Kuldeep took control , and then in a break when Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley were frustrating India with a painstakingly slow partnership, the champion off-spinner returned to take the remaining two wickets in three balls to conclude. Thus, Ashwin was back, dispelling opinions that he may not be as effective as before.
But the road to redemption was not as easy as it seems. It is rarely the case that a home Test series in India does not feature a five-point Ashwin and the 36-year-old made sure the Anthony de Mello Trophy was no such exception. Ashwin revealed that he knew England were ready to pick, but the most challenging thing was the fact that he had to make some adjustments in his approach to get the desired result.
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“Rohit told Jadeja and me in the pre-meeting: you are both starting, who wants to start? I raised my hand and said I will start from this side. I am glad it paid off. I have some kind of bond with the ball new and I enjoyed bowling at a bit more speed,” Ashwin told the host station at Stumps on Day 3.
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“I had to go back and restructure the game. I’m someone who comes from the top and likes the ball to drop down the field. Somehow when I get to the eastern part of the country, I find there’s not enough bite.” Of the surface. The bounce is literally around shin height if I can say that so I had to bowl a lot of side spin, I had to hit the pitch for the first part of the spell and then from the other side I felt there It was a bit more of a buy . I had to literally rewire and it’s a mental change I had to make.
What’s wrong with Ashwin’s knee?
Ashwin’s 5/51 saw him tie Anil Kumble as the Indian with the most five-for tests and only fourth behind Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Richard Hadlee, and he also overtook India’s legendary spinner to become the fastest in take 350 lands on Indian soil. However, quite unusually, Ashwin did not use enough carrom balls, and the reason behind this, as the spinner revealed, is that he found some problem with his knee.
“For some strange reason, my knee has been acting up. It only takes me 10 to 12 balls to warm up. I also did a warm-up before going in. So once I got the right length that’s when I wanted to try the carrom. because I didn’t want to giving up extra runs because we were the last ones chasing, so every run we chase is a big advantage,” Ashwin added.
However, Ashwin’s brave act put India on the brink of a famous series victory as they are just 152 runs away from finishing the series.