Former India coach Ravi Shastri has opened up Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement after the third Test of the ongoing Border–Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at Gabba Test in Brisbane. Shastri has revealed what made recently retired Ashwin such a special player.
Ashwin has left a rich legacy as one of India’s finest match-winners and Ravi Shastri has seen many of those match-winning efforts in his role as head coach.
The 62-year-old feels that Ashwin has evolved with the time and the premier off-spinner always wanted to learn new tricks.
“I think what stands out for me was his wanting to evolve all the time. He wasn’t the kind of guy satisfied as to where he started,” Shastri said in the latest episode of The ICC Review.
“He wanted new tricks to be learned. He pursued it, practiced hard at it and continued to look for new things as his career progressed, to keep up with the times,” he added.
The 38-year-old Ashwin’s record is the second-most successful India bowler in international cricket with 765 wickets (537 of those in Tests), standing only behind Anil Kumble (953).
“His legacy will be of being a terrific match-winner, a fabulous record, 537 sticks. I mean anyone over 500 (in Test cricket) is special,” Shastri said.
The former India coach also highlighted Ashwin’s improved numbers this decade, with the bowler picking up 175 Test scalps at an average of 21.18 (better than his career average of 24).
“And for him to do it in his span and the way he has done it, especially when it came to bowling in the last four or five years, I think in India, along with (Ravindra) Jadeja, I think they were a terrific pair, the real spin twins,” Shastri said.
“They complemented each other well and they spurred each other on you know so I would say a lot of Jadeja’s wickets in the last you know five-six years have come because of Ashwin and vice-versa,” he added.
The former India coach lauded Ashwin’s versatility saying that off-spinner’s equal record against left and right-hand batters (269 right-handed batter wickets to 268 left-handed batter wickets) showed just how good the spinner was irrespective of the opponent and playing style.
“For me it was his guile, wanting to excel in his craft and (especially) in the last two-three years the way he got the ball to the way gave it a rip and got it to dip on the batsman with drift made him stand out,” Shastri said.
“And you look at his record against right-handers, against left-handers, it’s pretty much similar, you know, which says it all. It didn’t matter to him who he was bowling against. You know, he was up for it,” he added.
