R Ashwin: Can he bring a solution to his skipper's problem?

R Ashwin

Over time, we have a witnessed few talented cricketers who started off their cricketing careers in unusual style, but still made impressive achievements. To name one, Irfan Pathan, a terrific Indian all-rounder being brought back into the team after his phenomenal Ranji Season triumphs, who slowly became the front end left-arm bowler for the team and represented India in all formats. Another person who can fit into this picture is Wayne Parnell, a South African all-rounder, the captain of Under-19 South African team way back in 2007-08, who was one of the spearheads for South Africa in the meantime. Though both of them were young, animated and zealous initially, their careers now are uncertain as both of them need to put up strong performances to seal a spot in the team.

The reason to look at the scenarios of Irfan and Parnell is to analyse the case of the present situation in the Indian cricket squad. A few days ago, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the skipper of the current Indian team, deliberately pointed out the need for an efficient all-rounder in the side. His words came just after the end of the India-Australia series. The reason, however, can be justified for a while, by looking at the performance of Ravichandran Ashwin in the ongoing Test series against the West Indies.

In the just completed first Test against the West Indies, R Ashwin’s century and his vital partnership with Rohit Sharma completely changed the script of the game as India won the match by a big margin. This innings has brought him a number of accolades from senior cricketers, with Sunil Gavaskar being the one to point out his ability as an all-rounder and a potential leader of the team. Let us put aside his captaincy skills for the moment though. His talent as an all-rounder needs attention now as it may resolve one of the everlasting problems of Indian cricket.

R Ashwin, an opening batsmen for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji matches, became a specialist off-spinner in T20 cricket and slowly eased into the international arena as the front-line spinner for India. He has scored three centuries in his Ranji carreer and his recent successes are not surprising for anyone who has seen his individual capabilities before. This will justify the reason for my discussion of Pathan’s and Parnell’s entry to their team in the front.

India, desperately thirsty for a perfect all-rounder, may find themselves happy after watching Ashwin’s recent successes. On a concluding note, I believe that the way Dhoni can find the solution to his question is by allowing Ashwin to move up the order and give him an opportunity to stay for some time in the middle, and assess how he performs there. If he performs well then it’s a bonanza for the whole team; if not, then the hunt for an all-rounder will come into the picture again. And India is definitely in need of that, as it is becoming increasingly evident with each passing day.