Ashwin And Djokovic Can Be Kindred Souls

During the engrossing Wimbledon final on Sunday night when Novak Djokovic, down 5-4 in the second set and serving to stay in, was docked a penalty for a time violation, on the social media platform Twitter, Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin put out a tweet 'clapping' the umpire's decision (to come down on the Serb).

Aswhin opinionating on other sports is nothing new --- he is one of those typical cerebral cricketers who follows other sports quite keenly. But what was ironic --- in an unintended way --- is the fact that the champion off-spinner can be in many ways compared to Djokovic.

Though the Serbian plies his skill in an individual sport, and Ashwin of course has to parade his guiles in a team game, the two are largely misunderstood and have often not gotten the kind of plaudits that they thoroughly deserve. 

Also, the two are often accused --- another of those typically frivolous charges thrown at with not much thought  --- of playing with their respective sport's spirit. But the two outspoken and articulate sports persons have more or less stopped caring about these allegations, as they continue to go about their work with their own individual spark and style. 

In terms of age too, the two are close --- the Indian was born in September '86, while the tennis pro is a tad younger having been born in May '87.

The Serbian, with his 23 Grand Slam title that he notched up with his triumph at the Roland Garros last month may have put an end to the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) debate in tennis  --- Roger Federer with 20 titles is long retired and Rafael Nadal with 22 GS titles is injury-plagued and looking at hanging up his racquet. 

Djokovic, despite coming up agonisingly short at Wimbledon Sunday night against the new-kid-on-the-block Carlos Alcaraz, can consider himself in contention for at least two more GS crowns. 

Perplexing snub to Ashwin

Ashwin, on the other hand, has just bowled India to a rather tame but felicitous victory against a West Indies team that does not seem to have the wherewithal to combat his beguiling bag of tricks. 

Ashwin's 12 wickets in the Test, in another time, would have been sensational news. But the state of Windies cricket is such that Ashwin's 8th ten-wicket haul in 93 Tests comes with an asterisk attached for no fault of his.

But this is the best way to answer his critics and the team management which dropped him --- despite him being the best spinner in the world in the ICC rankings --- for the WTC (World Test Championships) final against Australia at the Oval in June. 

Even the fact that Ashwin was the best bowler on view from India in the previous WTC final against New Zealand at Southampton (2021), - he had match figures of 4 for 45 in 10 overs --- did not seem to impress the tour selectors.  

The snub on Ashwin that defied cricketing logic (Australia had quite a few left-handers in its ranks). India's unceremonious loss only heightened the disappointment, and Ashwin, in a dropping of guard, let his bitterness show, and the terms like 'trauma', 'needed closure' and fellow players being no more friends but just colleagues, showed that he was hurting. 

The insinuation of a poor overseas record seems to bother him. "Ever since 2018-19, my bowling overseas has been fantastic and I have managed to win games for the team," he said.

But nobody seems to be listening. Just look at the numbers. 

From the beginning of 2018, the crafty offie has the best average of all spinners playing away from home in Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa (on the belief that they boast non-spinner friendly surfaces). 

But India has veered to the belief in four seamers and one spinner these days in overseas conditions. And Ravindra Jadeja, a fine spinner, with his better batting and fielding always gets the nod. In a sense, Ashwin and Jadeja playing together is the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket. But that is equally not the best thing for the offie. 

Ashwin, like with Djokovic, has to constantly combat against assumptions and perceptions. Djokovic has been labeled a sore loser and one who resorts to gamesmanship, even though the evidence presented against him for such behaviour is tenuous and tendentious. 

Ashwin too is accused of over-doing his bowling experiments and trying too many things. A bowler, by definition, has to attempt myriad variations to unsettle the batsman. But only in Ashwin's case it is held against him. Another complaint against him is, he overthinks, whatever that means. 

"A lot of people marketed me and positioned me that I am an overthinker. A person who will get 15-20 matches on the go doesn’t have to be mentally overthinking. A person who knows that they will get only two games will be traumatised and will be overthinking because it’s my job. It’s my journey. So this is what suits me. If somebody is going to tell me, ‘you’re going to play 15 matches, you will be looked after, you will be this, you are responsible for players, you are in the leadership role, I won’t be overthinking. Why would I?" Ashwin told The Indian Express after the WTC Finals fiasco.

The insinuations hurt

Another lazy labeling is Ashwin picks most of his wickets on designer-pitches in India. Former spinner Harbhajan Singh has been particularly guilty of dropping such insidious innuendos. As the second top wicket taker for India in Tests (behind Anil Kumble's 619 at 29.65), Ashwin (486 wickets at 23.61 at the end of the Test at Dominica) surely deserves more respect.

If you parse his numbers further, it's even more impressive. He has eight 10-wicket hauls, the highest for an Indian --- he shares this record with Kumble. For the record, only four others bowlers have taken more 10-wicket match hauls in Tests. 

Ashwin's 34 five-fors is just one one behind Kumble's India record of 35. 

World-wise, Ashwin shares the fifth place with Rangana Herath for the most five-wicket hauls in Tests. Ashwin currently has 702 wickets across all formats, and has picked up a wicket every 46 balls in his career, the sixth-best strike rate among the bowlers. 

Ashwin is the second fastest in world cricket to reach the 400 wickets in Tests mark. 

Away from home, Ashwin has an average of around 31, which is on par compared with other top bowlers from the current generation. He has bowled in seven Test playing nations away from home, and his best two away countries are Australia and Sri Lanka --- 39 and 38 wickets respectively.

The crucial wickets column can be the best arbiters on any bowling debate, and as you can see Ashwin surely excels in that. Yet, the fact he does not get his due is a tiresome travesty. In Djokovic, Ashwin can find a kindred spirit.

But going by his tweet on the night of the Wimbledon final, Ashwin does not seem to think so. And that is a pity, really!