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Ravichandran Ashwin was the wrecker-in-chief of Australia’s middle order in their unsuccessful run chase in the second ODI. Ashwin showcased his subtle variations, especially the carrom ball which troubled the Aussie batters. Marnus Labuschagne who had played himself in was left dumbfounded as the ball moved away from the bat and crashed into the stumps. In a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Ashwin explained the thought process behind bowling that ball to Labuschagne which broke the partnership.
They had nothing to lose after the rain, break, they had to come, they had to go hard. They switched up, I think they had to get a boundary ever over... From my side I wanted to keep the length perfectly in in terms of trying to keep it away from the bat and also change pace," Ashwin said.
“I think Marnus tried to play a reversed sweep before that. So I was expecting him to try and reverse and then probably try to slog sweep and all that so I wanted to keep my pace up and down just in case he gave the stumps away. I felt that they were not picking it off the hand that very well so maybe that angle that I'm creating and the change of grip I'm using my third finger to bowl the carrom ball and the off-break so maybe hopefully it'll hold me in good stead,” he added.
Ashwin revealed that he worked with Sairaj Bahutule at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) which helped him try different grips and angles to trouble the batters.
“I worked a little with Sairaj at the NCA working on different angles and slightly different grips. I asked him to watch from front and back. We worked on it for 3-4 days. For how much of a cricket I've played over the years,” the veteran off-spinner said.
“I should have done this a long time ago, but I'm doing it now at least I'm glad. At the end of the day when the batsman is received it's a great ball, that's all you're hoping for as a bowler. But what I was pleased with was the amount of uncertainty I was able to create with respect to both edges of the blade today,” the 37-year-old concluded.
Ashwin has been in splendid form since his return to the ODI setup. He picked up one wicket in Mohali followed by a three-fer in Indore. With Axar Patel yet to regain full fitness, He is likely to feature in the third ODI as captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and others return to the playing XI.
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