Exclusive: Ravichandran Ashwin reveals how he out-bowled England’s Bazballers in IND vs ENG Test series | Cricket News

Even though India beat England 4-1 in the recent series, all-rounder R Ashwin said what Ben Stokes and Co did through the series cannot be spoken on a lesser note. After starting the series on a winning note, and having India under pressure at various stages in Visakhapatnam, Rajkot and Ranchi, England ended up losing their first series of the Bazball era.
“What England did on this tour cannot be negated or cannot be spoken of on a lesser note. I think that is some fantastic work. Whenever you do something new and when it’s likely to be revelation or revolutionary or entertaining, you will find areas that you can always find a balance to. All in all, I thought they played good cricket. But we played some better cricket at the right moments,” Ashwin said in The Idea Exchange with The Indian Express (the detailed transcript will be published later).
Though India started off on a losing note, in the end, their superior bowling attack proved to be the difference between the two sides. “I didn’t think too much about it going into the series. I expected them to come swinging down a bit and probably try to put pressure on us, which they did,” said Ashwin, who led the wicket-charts in the series with 26 scalps. “For me, it was great learning. It was very exciting and challenging. At the same time, I’m very glad that at the other end of it, I’ve learned a lot more,” he added.
Ravichandran Ashwin on the first day of the fourth Test between India and England, at the JSCA International Stadium Complex, in Ranchi. (PTI Photo)
Though England didn’t find anyone to repeat Ollie Pope’s match-winning heroics at Hyderabad in the remaining series, they stuck to their hitherto successful formula. Except for Dharamsala, in the other three Tests, they repeatedly put India under pressure, before blinking first. “You have also been on tours, where the final test can be tough without the context,” he said.
For Ashwin, the 100th Test at Dharamsala was the high point of the series. After receiving the 100th Test cap from head coach Rahul Dravid, he picked up four wickets in the first innings, before picking 5 in the second. On Day 3, which turned out to be the final morning of the series, Ashwin started England’s slide picking up four wickets, including that of England captain Ben Stokes. Having bowled an eight-over spell, India brought Ashwin for the last over before lunch, and the arm-ball delivered from around the stumps spelled doom for Stokes.
The wicket came soon after a conversation between Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah, who was leading the side as Rohit Sharma sat out, after which Ashwin got an extra over to bowl at the stroke of lunch.
“Gauging moments comes with a certain amount of instinct,” Ashwin spoke of that moment when he came on to bowl. “You have been there in these situations and you know what can and what should happen. It won’t happen every time. But I think it was more about me going to Jaddu and Bumrah and talking to them about what mind space Stokes was in. Because I felt like Stokes wanted to break the shackles and at the same time wanted to do it after lunch. So you just wanted to get to lunch and that can happen sometimes. But it was entirely Jassie’s (Bumrah) call to bring me on.”
Instinct, homework
Once the instincts took over, Ashwin also brought the extensive homework he had done — analysing Stokes through the course of the series and beyond — to good work. “I just felt like when Stokes gets into these very defensive shells, he allows you to come a little fuller and wider on occasions because he’s worried so much about the LBW. His bat is almost, pointing down to the ground that he gets into the zones of literally being extra tight and he could just lunge forward to every single ball on those occasions,” Ashwin recollected.
At Dharamsala Stokes did something different to how he played in Hyderabad and Ranchi, where the pitches were on the slower side. “In Hyderabad he wanted to play a lot of the back-foot. It was the slowest surface that I’ve seen in all these years of playing cricket. So when the ball turns, it just beats your bat and doesn’t hit the stump. So Stokes was hanging back. That’s the same load he found himself in Ranchi,” he explained.
However, with the Dharamsala pitch having good bounce and carry and a bit quicker, Stokes was playing more on the front foot. “Over here, I felt his front foot was moving farther than usual — because he wanted to hit and at the same time, get to lunch. So I just wanted to keep the line a little outside offs-stump to see if you would lunge. And my intention was to get him out LBW. If you look at the replay also you’ll find that the bat is close to the pad. Only the upper half was a little open. And the ball found enough bounce and deviation to just get between bat and bad at that top half. My intention was to get him out LBW, but the bounce enabled me to get through the transit.”