"Will go on to become one of the finest batters for England" - Ravichandran Ashwin on Zak Crawley
Team India's senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes that England opener Zak Crawley has the potential to achieve tremendous success in international cricket.
Ashwin also expressed his surprise over Crawley not being a regular fixture in England's white-ball team. However, the seasoned campaigner seemed quite optimistic about the swashbuckling batter's future.
Here's what Ashwin said about Crawley on his YouTube channel:
"I feel Zak Crawley, for the potential and talent he has, will go on to become one of the finest batters for England. If he doesn’t, I don't know where and how to quantify that. Phenomenal cricketer. It is surprising that he still hasn’t gotten a permanent place in white-ball cricket with the England team, but it’s only a matter of time."
Zak Crawley showed a lot of promise in the recently concluded five-match Test series against India. With 407 runs in 10 innings, he was England's leading run-getter in the series in India.
However, the right-handed batter came under the scanner for being unable to convert his starts into big scores. Crawley failed to cross the 100-run mark even once during the rubber despite notching up four half-centuries.
"Unless a player likes the strategy and fully buys in, nobody can tell a player how he has to play" - Ravichandran Ashwin on England's Bazball approach
Ravichandran Ashwin also spoke about how batters like Joe Root and Ollie Pope altered their game to suit the England team's Bazball approach during the India Test series.
He opined that the two batters agreed to leave aside their natural game. They put the team management's vision at the forefront only because they were also in agreement on the strategy.
The 37-year-old said:
"Many people wonder whether players like Joe Root and Ollie Pope have changed their games based on what the management says. But unless a player likes the strategy and fully buys in, nobody can tell a player how he has to play.
"It’s not under-10 or under-12 matches where you teach the players and guide them. These are professional, mature cricketers who have played for so many years and know how to play based on conditions."
Ashwin mentioned that he was disappointed to see Root get out to Jasprit Bumrah while trying to play the reverse scoop in the Rajkot Test. He pointed out how the veteran batter learned from his mistake and went back to trusting his defence in the remaining fixtures, elaborating:
"Day 3 morning first over or Day 2 post-break, takes us by surprise by hitting a reverse scoop six over third man. This is not something new. It worked for him in England. As someone who applauded in those times, I was a little disappointed when he got out when Jasprit Bumrah put in a normal outswinger, and it took an outside edge to the slips.
"The question from many was: Does Joe Root have to do this? But he seemed to have reconciled from then on, and in the next matches, he did what he is best at: played good defence. The result of this was phenomenal."
Root bounced back in the fourth Test, remaining unbeaten on 122 in England's first innings at Ranchi. He also was the lone warrior for his side in their second innings of the fifth and final match at Dharamsala, scoring 84.