T20 World Cup: "I feel sorry for them; understanding of the game is still backward" - Ravichandran Ashwin slams experts asking him to be a 'wicket-taker'
Ravichandran Ashwin has made a no-holds-barred attack on the 'experts' asking him to be a better 'wicket-taker'.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of India's T20 World Cup clash against Scotland on Friday, the off-spinner said he feels 'sorry' for these experts and that their understanding of the game is still 'backward' in many ways.
Ravichandran Ashwin argued that wicket-taking is not something that "just happens" and that cricket is played more in partnerships where one bowler creates pressure via dot balls and the other picks up the wickets. He said:
"For a lot of people who are considering this game and are also giving expert opinions on the game, I sometimes feel sorry for them... I feel the understanding of the game is still backward in so many ways. For me, when you call upon a bowler and say 'he's got to pick wickets' it's about the lengths... Most often than not wicket-taking is seen as something that just happens. It's not like that... For every wicket, a bowler is picking there's an over that's bowled before or after that's created that wicket. So we need to understand that every wicket that falls in an over is a result of dot balls played by a batter or bowled by another bowler."
Ravichandran Ashwin added that he can go for wickets if he wants to but for him, the interest of the team in a game of narrow margins is more important. The 35-year-old remarked:
"...I can't shun my responsibility of bowling dot balls and economically. But in the process, if I get wickets, I am getting wickets. I also need to keep in mind the interest of the team and what the team expects from me at that particular ball... Easy for me to throw the ball up for a wicket but remember every T20 game is won by a margin of two runs or a ball or two balls so I need to keep that in mind every single time."
So great to see Team India’s performance on the field today, @ashwinravi99 you were brilliant tonight, @ImRo45 & @klrahul11 amazing partnership. Keep up the good work, more power to you! 🇮🇳🙌#INDvAFG #T20WorldCup
Ravichandran Ashwin's fiery retort is an apparent reaction to former cricketers like Sanjay Manjrekar terming him as just a run-containing spinner during the IPL.
But fittingly, he showed his all-round prowess in his comeback T20I match after four years. Ravichandran Ashwin picked up two crucial wickets in what was inarguably the match-winning spell in the India-Afghanistan clash on Wednesday.
My new variations are so subtle that people are still dubbing them as carrom balls, off-spin, and arm-balls: Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin playing white ball format after 4 long years for India went for just 14 runs from 4 overs and picked 2 wickets. Welcome back, Ash. https://t.co/OKtSZ4Gfqw
Further, Ravichandran Ashwin gave an amusing insight into the new tricks and variations he has developed in this time away from international white-ball cricket.
He said his new variations are so subtle that experts are still using old cliched terms like carrom balls and arm balls for them.
Ravichandran Ashwin asserted:
"The perception of finger spin needs to change, I feel... Ever since 2017, I have evolved as a T20 bowler. I bowl a lot more deliveries that are so subtle that people are still dubbing them as carrom balls, off-spin, and arm-balls.. I am trying to create different angles, different seam positions. The ball I dismissed Gulbadin Naib with yesterday was anything but a carrom ball. I have worked on it."
He revealed that currently, he thinks like a leg-spinner or a left-arm spinner while bowling to a right-handed batter and an off-spinner to a left-handed batter, adding that the perception about his abilities needs some change.
Ravichandran Ashwin concluded:
"I have got so many more options than I used to have at that time [2017] and when I bowl to a right-hander, I think like a left-arm spinner or a leg spinner. And when I bowl to a left-hander I think like an off-spinner. Thinking creates the intent which is eventually translated into practice and games. So there's a lot of work gone there, it's just the conception of what I do needs to change."
Ashwin has played 47 T20Is so far, picking up 54 wickets at an average of 22.35 and an economy rate of 6.89.