On Day 1 of the ongoing first Test against the West Indies, when India’s Ravichandran Ashwin walked in to bat at No 6, ahead of wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, it raised a few eyebrows. Skipper Virat Kohli had been lauded for his aggressive captaincy for going in with five bowlers, considering Ashwin’s all-round capabilities, but was this one step too far? Yes, the man had two Test hundreds to his name – incidentally both against the West Indies – but was he a No 6 batsman?
Some of those raised eyebrows would have lowered as the tall right-hander hit his first boundary not too long into his innings – an effortless cover drive off the bowling of Carlos Brathwaite. As he carried on, he made batting look easy, whether he was driving Jason Holder straight down the ground, or guiding Shannon Gabriel between the slips and gully, or cutting Brathwaite to the fence to bring up his fifty, or late-cutting Kraigg Brathwaite wide of gully for another boundary. There was perhaps just one shot when it actually looked like he made an effort to get a boundary – a heave down mid-wicket off the bowling of Devendra Bishoo.
It was not a faultless innings – he was dropped by wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich when he was on 43 – but Ashwin eventually brought up one of the most languid hundreds you would ever see, his third against the same opposition and first overseas. His teammates, especially his skipper, were delighted when he raised his bat towards them. Perhaps the only Indian who would not have been thrilled to witness it is Ravindra Jadeja, who knows that’s it’s going to be a while before he can find himself back in the team.
At the end of Day 2, Ashwin, who had started his first-class career as a batsman before realising he is a gifted spinner, revealed that his he has been working hard on his batting for a year now. “…[batting coach] Sanjay Bangar worked really closely with my stance for the last 12 months. It has been a challenge. I used to be extra side-on and I had to open myself a little bit. That change is very effective. I've not driven straight down the ground for a very long time. [So] that is a pretty evident one. The other things like my initial movement and other things had to be sorted. It was a process for like 10-12 months, and on the way I did lose a few innings as a batsman as well.”
Ashwin has proved that he is the best batsman out of the other all-rounders in the Indian squad, including Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. It also proves that India, or at least Kohli, trusts him more than even Saha. But is Ashwin the permanent solution for India’s No 6? There are arguments both ways.
Two sides
Taking nothing away from Ashwin’s effort – scoring a Test century, no matter who the opposition, is not an achievement to be belittled – it was against an attack that has just two specialist bowlers from a team ranked eighth in the world. It was on a pitch whose liveliness from the first day had transformed into a typical Caribbean sluggish surface. His batting average overall, 33.76, is healthy for a bowling all-rounder who usually comes in at Nos 7 and 8, but if you only consider his record overseas, it drops down to 29.
It is still a bit unfair to judge Ashwin so soon, considering he has played just 14 Test matches overseas, and just 10 outside Asia. A glass-half-full way to look at it is that the 29-year-old appears to be pretty solid when it comes to technique. He knows how to play his shots and can also pass off as borderline elegant. As for his average, it is still better than most of his contemporaries in the same batting position.
If you look at No 6 Test batsmen in other teams that have played recently, Ashwin’s average of 33-odd still tops Australia’s Mitchell Marsh (23), England’s Chris Woakes (32.44), Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Thirimanne (24) and New Zealand’s Corey Anderson (32.52). The only ones above him are Pakistan’s Asad Shafiq (43.85) and South Africa’s Temba Bavuma (38.30), both of whom are not all-rounders, but proper batsmen.
India have a great opportunity of grooming Ashwin for Test matches and making him that reliable No 6 batsman by further working on his technique and temperament. The Indians have a long home season coming up and it’s an ideal chance for them to give Ashwin the No 6 spot on a permanent basis and see how he performs and develops. Yes, it won’t be a true test of his batting abilities as he will be playing on subcontinent surfaces that are conducive to batting, but at least it will be a start.
