Two variations of carrom ball: How Ashwin knocked out David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, and Josh Inglis | Cricket News
Washington Sundar’s expression at the dugout captured the moment best. Marnus Labuschagne had possibly his most embarrassing moment of his career with the bat in the middle, absolutely outwitted a pearler from R Ashwin to lose his stumps, and was hunched on the bat in bewilderment when Sundar quickly darted a look at the television to catch a replay. That look suggested ‘what was that? What did he bowl that Marnus was cleaned up in such a spectacular fashion’.
Luckily, there was a spin-slow-mo camera that framed the release in all its glory. It was the reverse carrom that Ashwin had assiduously worked on for a couple of years after he found out that his regular carrom ball that broke the ball away from the right-handers were being played to the off with the expected turn. The right-handed batsmen just had to spot the finger-flicking release and would start shaping to angle the bat to the off. So, Ashwin had to come up with something else.
He started to change up. His carromball used to be flicked from front of the hand; now with this reverse, he started to backspin the ball, and also under cut it, sliding his finger under the seam to straighten the ball. “It’s the backflipper, which gives me the drift away from the left-hander, and into the righthander. I also underneath the seam a little bit to straighten at times,” he once told Sky Sports. Poor Labuschagne got a live demo.
Two wickets in an over for @ashwinravi99 💪💪
David Warner and Josh Inglis are given out LBW!
Live – https://t.co/OeTiga5wzy… #INDvAUS @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/z62CFHTgq1
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 24, 2023
To be fair to Labuschagne, he didn’t look to play to the off. Was that because he had seen it wasn’t the regular away-going carrom or because he hadn’t seen the release at all? Whatever the case was, the end result was spectacular. He was pushing within the line, and the ball that drifted in a touch straightened, just as Ashwin said it would, to clatter on to the stumps. Sundar was presumably inspired the replays.
The bigger ongoing battle around Labuschagne was Ashwin vs David Warner. Normally, the OTTs don’t really do a great job with the highlights, but this one on JioCinema has been packaged pretty neatly. Labelled ‘Ashwin outsmarts Righty Warner’, it captures all the mini-moments. How Warner switched to batting right after Pat Cummins ran on to the field with a message; how he then swept a four like a right-handed batsman triggering much laughter in the Aussie camp; and then the finishing blow from Ashwin. Most Read
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This one was the regular carrom, but Warner had attempted to reverse sweep it – that is play it like a left-hander that he is after switching positions- but it spun to trap him on the pad. Curiously, Warner didn’t go for the DRS as there was an under-edge, but he was sprawled on the ground the time he wafted his bat, and perhaps didn’t feel it. He would only consult with his partner about the lbw, and trudged back.
Few balls later came another dreamy backspinning reverse carrom to take out Josh Inglis. The drift on this is well worth a watch on loop. Again, the undercut backspinning release, and the ball curves into the right-hander from outside off to land on the middle-and-off, and then straightens. It was also pretty full, and that length beat the intended sweep to nail Inglis lbw.
It was one of his best ODI spells, and has presented Indian management with a thrilling selection call to make for the world cup. Would they want Ashwin or will they hope that Axar Patel gets fit and ready for his batting ability? If the pitch aids turn, then Ashwin the batsman is more than capable to turn on the heat. Axar showed them what was possible with his near he against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup. What will Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid decide?
