There were many reasons for India‘s defeat in the fourth Test against England at Southampton which saw them concede the five-match series 3-1 with one to go.
India’s batsmen failed to chase down gettable targets during the first Test in Birmingham and the fourth in Southampton with England’s bowlers chipping in at just the right time to pull the match the hosts’ way. Seam bowling all-rounder Sam Curran was a revelation with the bat as he scored more than 250 runs while the returning Moeen Ali finished with nine wickets in match four to go with his first innings knock of 40.
For India, captain Virat Kohli piled on more than 500 runs in the series while his pacers were on the money pretty much every innings. But when the moment came to grab the initiative, India fell short.
There is never one factor that decides the result of a Test. But in the final essay the difference between Moeen & Ashwin proved to be the difference between the two sides.#ENGvIND
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 2, 2018
One area that will hurt Team India particularly is the performance of Ravi Ashwin in the fourth Test. It was a wicket that was tailor-made for the ace off-spinner. The pitch in Southampton was dry and big roughs were created on both sides of the pitch by the second day itself.
When Moeen Ali bowled in India’s first innings, he got the ball to spin sharply from the rough and got appreciable bounce. He managed to beat batsmen in the air and off the pitch, snaring five quality Test wickets.
The hope was that Ashwin would go one better, especially after India managed to sneak in a 27-run lead and England were reduced to 92-4 and 122-5 in the second essay.
Moeen Ali upstaging him on this pitch so comprehensively will rankle Ravi Ashwin more than it does his fans I would like to think
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 2, 2018
Even as the pitch deteriorated and the ball exploded off the surface, Ashwin failed to land the ball consistently at one place, forget beat the inside or outside edge of the bat.
The manner in which he celebrated the wicket of Ben Stokes showed he was relieved at getting a wicket at last. However, more than 37 overs for 84 runs and one wicket was simply not good enough in a surface where Moeen picked up nine in the match.
When England pace ace James Anderson got ideal bowling conditions in the second Test at Lord’s he decimated the Indian line-up twice to bowl them out for 107 and 130 with nine in the match, no questions asked. Top performers raise their game when the team needs them and especially when the conditions suit them. Anderson did, Ashwin didn’t.
Ashwin was probably carrying an injury from the third Test. In that case, he should not have played the fourth Test and his spot should have gone to Ravindra Jadeja who is guaranteed to pick up quick wickets on helpful surfaces.
This isn’t the first time Ashwin has failed to make the most of a helpful surface. Against the same opposition in the 2012 Test in Mumbai, the Indians had amassed 327 in the first innings on a pitch that was already breaking up. But instead of strangling the life out of England with India 1-0 up in the series, he bowled 42.3 overs for two wickets and 145 runs as Kevin Pietersen hit arguably the greatest century by a visiting batsman in India. England won the match and went on to win the series.
Ashwin doesn’t have any major series wins outside Asia under his belt and that puts him below England off-spinner Graeme Swann in the history books.
Ashwin has 327 wickets from 62 Tests while Swann has 255 from 60. But Swann was star of the show in two of England’s greatest Test series wins in contemporary cricket.
Swann picked up 20 wickets – the joint-most in the series – as England won the 2012 Test series in India. He took 15 wickets from five Tests as England tasted Ashes glory Down Under in 2010/11.
Both were exemplary efforts in tough conditions that should put Swann ahead of Ashwin in Test hierarchy.
Moreover, Ashwin has tinkered with his action and bowling style throughout his career. He has brought in many variations, the ‘carrom ball’ and recently even switched to leg-spin to revive his white-ball career. In between all this, there hasn’t been a long-enough spell of pure off-spin bowling season after season.
Swann, on the other hand, stayed true to his art and started his Test career at the age of 28. So while the record book will show Ashwin as the more successful off-spinner in Tests, it’s Swann who has had a greater impact on the narrative.
