Debasis Sen, Antigua: Ravichandran Ashwin’s love affair with the West Indies bowlers do not seem to stop. The off-spinner notched up his third hundred of his test career with all of them coming against the Windies. During the 2011 series, Ashwin, who batted at the No.8 position, scored 103 as India drew with the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium with the scores level. India had won the series with 2-0 and Ashwin, incidentally, was the leading wicket-taker with 22 wickets.
During the 2013 series, in what was Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell series, Ashwin once again was the star with the bat as he smashed 124 at the Eden Gardens and shared a record 280-run stand with Rohit Sharma for the seventh wicket, the third-best partnership for the seventh wicket. In that series, he was the second-highest run-scorer and was once again the leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets.
In the Antigua Test, Ashwin shared a 168-run stand with skipper Virat Kohli as he helped him reach his maiden double century. The right-hander also shared an important 71-run stand with wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha as India neared 500. Ashwin notched up his hundred when he whipped legspinner Devendra Bishoo to deep mid wicket for a boundary.
In 33 Tests, he has scored over 1200 runs at an average of just over 34. With the ball, he has 176 wickets at an average of 25.39, making him a genuine all-rounder.
On being asked how much did he enjoyed batting against the Windies, he said, “Yes, I have got runs against West Indies, and if you start getting a liking towards a team, you have that inside factor which tells you that you can do it again.
That’s because I’ve got more time to bat against them. Whenever I’ve gone in, I’ve had a batsman to play with all the times I made a hundred.
Ashwin was promoted up the order in this test ahead of Saha. That worked wonders to his confidence.
“That’s an important factor for a batsman lower down to get a hundred. And obviously, this game I batted at six, so that gave me ample time to try and play it out. Yeah, I’ve always wanted to bat in the top seven for the Indian team, which is a long-time goal that I have to try to strive to get better at,” said Ashwin post days play in Antigua.
He would like to thank both Kumble and Virat for having the confidence in him to be pushed at number six. There have been times in the past when he’ve played really well, and haven’t really got the promotion.He was asked to go in at No 6 by Virat.
“This really says a whole lot of things about me. Virat called me in the morning and said ‘you’ll be batting at six, ahead of Saha’, which is a big boost to my batting confidence. I had worked on it over the past one month in Chennai with my coach and I’m very very happy with the way it’s come out.”
Ashwin attributed his success with the bat to Sanjay Bangar who have worked on his stance.
“First things first, Sanjay Bangar worked really closely with my stance for the last 12 months. It has been a challenge. I used to be extra side-on and I had to open myself a little bit. That change is very effective. I’ve not driven straight down the ground for a very long time. (So) that is a pretty evident one.”
He also disclosed his aim to bat for at least 200 balls. Rahane told him to target batting for 150 balls.
Lastly, on being asked about batting with Virat , he commented ,”When I walked in started batting I felt like Virat was hitting a few shots that were almost impossible for me to connect. And that is the sheer brilliance of how Virat has been battling over the last year or so. He’s just playing a few shots which make the bowling look ridiculuos. I should say those shots are out of ordinary shots.”