Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar lauded Ravichandran Ashwin’s spell on the opening day of the fourth Test match at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday. Ashwin returned with figures of 1-57 in the 25 overs he bowled on the opening day.
The veteran off-spinner provided the first breakthrough of the day’s play as he accounted for Travis Head, who was scoring his runs at a brisk pace after getting a reprieve off Umesh Yadav’s bowling when KS Bharat bungled a simple catch.
Meanwhile, Ashwin bowled at an economy rate of 2.30 and kept the Australian batters at bay. Bangar feels not every day you get three or four wickets in Test cricket but Ashwin made the most of his variations.
Sanjay Bangar said on Star Sports, “Ashwin bowled extremely well. According to me, he used all the weapons in his arsenal but all days in Test cricket are not the same. You don’t see three or four wickets in your kitty every day but he might get the rewards of the effort he put in today either tomorrow or in the second innings.”
Bangar feels Ashwin was the pick of the Indian spinners as he bowled with great control on a pitch that had little assistance for the bowlers.
“He looked the best if we compare the three spinners. We have seen quite a few times, that when there is no assistance from the pitch on the first or second day, he bowls long spells for the team’s benefit. He bowled quite a lot around the wicket to Steve Smith with a strategy. He bowled good lines against Usman Khawaja.”
The former Indian all-rounder added Ashwin likes to play mind games on the field as he is a wily off-spinner.
“It is Ravichandran Ashwin’s huge strength that he keeps his eyes on the batter’s feet until the last moment and adjusts his line accordingly. He likes to play with the batter’s mind.”
“The one good change he made was that he started bowling with a short-leg fielder but once he understood that the straighter one was not that effective, he changed his line slightly, brought the short-leg fielder as an extra fielder on the off-side and because of that forced Travis Head to find a new area to score his runs at a fast pace.”
Australia was 255-4 at the end of the opening day’s play after a fine hundred from Usman Khawaja.
