Three days after landing in Leicestershire, his arrival delayed due to a COVID-19 infection and subsequent isolation at home, he cast a spell that allayed fears about both his fitness and preparedness. In an unchanging 11-over spell in which he was reserved but menacing, he looked like the strongest of India’s bowlers on a suntanned, calm surface where most hitters found run-scoring a less challenging exercise than on the first three days.
The surface swinging had dissipated, but it had worsened to encourage turning. In the morning, sailors Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami bowled with venom and panache, hitting the deck hard, but there was no breakthrough. So Ashwin strolled over to bowling for the 20th over of the last day. His intentions were obvious from the start, he didn’t want to stun batsmen with outrageous twists or sparkling variations. In fact, he’s barely unpacked his full bag of variations. He wanted to work his rhythm into the game, smother the batsmen, gauge the proportions and then spread his wings.
The lengths were thus fuller, the trajectory a little flatter and the line on the off-and-middle stump. He didn’t seem in the mood for a batsmen fight. Sam Evans, the Leicestershire batsman who averages a nuance under 30, showed him respect, eagerly blocking every ball. But his partner Shubman Gill, in turn, opted to drag Ashwin into a challenge. So in the next Over, he pulled Ashwin from a land mile outside the off-stump – a rare instance where he bowled far away in the early part of the spell – and powerfully swept him through square-leg.
𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧 🤝
Both sides shake hands to end four fantastic days of cricket here at the Uptonsteel County Ground.
Thank you to the fans who came to create a festival atmosphere and to @BCCI for their phenomenal attitude and professionalism throughout the week. 🦊🤝🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/RoAg3ItotF
— Leicestershire Foxes 🏏 (@leicsccc) June 26, 2022
On cue, Ashwin corrected his line and went around the stumps to angle the ball over him. But Gill still wouldn’t spare him. He got out and drove it through the center of the goal, picking the ball up from the off stump, slower through the air but harmless.
The stroke woke Ashwin. The competition intensified. He returned to the bowl from over the stumps, alternating between a long on-off stump and a middle stump to change his pace. He couldn’t catch a dangerous drift, the wind that blew into him also worked against him, but now he dropped the ball. He has so many different abilities that he can summon whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He gradually pulled back the length, bringing Gill, who prefers the rear foot bar, to the front. Gill probably reads too much into Ashwin’s tricks. Ashwin tends to overcomplicate himself at times, but these days batsmen overcomplicate themselves when facing him.
However, Gill was taken out of his comfort zone. He charted an escape route – to get out of misery and recapture early rise. That’s what Ashwin does best – seeding self-doubt in the batsmen’s minds. Until then, Gil struck with authority. Now, however, he felt both insecure and inadequate. He unrolled the ribbon. But Ashwin, always a psychoanalyst of hitters, had one floating on the stump. Gill couldn’t control the shot and dug deep.
After that, he began working through Evans. As tempting as it might have been to fool him with a deceptive version of himself, he was in no mood to kill quickly. Rather, he committed suicide. Evans was keen to use his feet, but Ashwin’s pace and trajectory kept him on his toes. He knew it was only a matter of time before the restless Evans got out. The batsman’s feet telegraphed his plan and Ashwin rolled a short ball outside the stump of the leg. Evans was beaten and at a loss. Another and Ashwin walked cautiously back into the pavilion, wearing a satisfied smile.
Ravindra Jadeja replaced him shortly thereafter. Louis Kimber greeted him with a four before Hanuma Vihari, so far in pathetic form, thrashed him with a six and a four from back-to-back balls. Jadeja rebounded, choking the batsmen with narrow lengths and snapping up a few wickets to the three he’d nibbled in the first innings. That would add another layer to the Jadeja-Ashwin debate over the Edgbaston test.
However, a stray warm-up game would not have the last word in the debate. The decision would depend on several factors – the extent of Ashwin’s recovery, the nature of the ground (Edgbaston has a vortex-friendly reputation), the combination India would go for, the right-hander/left-hander nature of the England squad and how they bowl into the Nets in the days leading up to the test, which begins July 1. But Ashwin has stressed to his credit that he is in good form after being benched for the first four Tests of this series last year.
Overall, visitors would leave East Midland satisfied with the rhythm of their bowlers but dissatisfied with their batsmen’s most shots.
Only Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and KS Bharat were fluent. Both Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari spent a lot of time in the middle without exuding any security. Cheteshwar Pujara was scratchy rather than stable in the second innings after ducking the first inning. The brightest spark of the sleepy day, however, was Ashwin.
Short results: Indians 246 for 8 Dec (Bharat 70, Walker 5-24) and 364 for 9 (Kohli 67, Jadeja 56*) Draw Leicestershire 244 (Pant 76, Jadeja 3-28, Shami 3-42) and 219 for 4 ( Gil 62, Kimber 56, Ashwin 2-31).