Ravichandran Ashwin was truly at his best as he became only the 14th Indian player to feature in 100 Test matches. Ashwin took England batters for a ride, claiming 9 wickets in the 5th Test at Dharamsala, producing one of his finest performances in the whites. After the game, India legend Sunil Gavaskar caught up with Ashwin and spoke about the manner in which he continues to bamboozle batters, even at this stage of his career.
Gavaskar also reminded Ashwin of a comment from England star Joe Root, who had explained before the match why the best batters in the world find it difficult to tackle Ashwin.
"That has always been the highlight of your career. You have always been the student of the game. And how you try to get better in every match with a variety of deliveries. Different delivaries. Different actions, the different run-ups that you have - I mean, that's fascinating to watch, you know how the mind is working, trying to outfox the batter. I mean, I can only say that a lot of good players of spin bowling will be thinking a hundred times about how to cope with you, we heard from Joe Root before the Test match began," Gavaskar said on Jio Cinema after the Dharamsala Test.
"I'd say with Ashwin, (it) is making sure that you don't play the previous ball," Root had said on the Sky Cricket vodcast.
Ashwin, who remains one of the finest brains in the game, highlighted how footage from video analysts have helped him best prepare for challenges.
"Sunny bhai, I feel times I have rolled along and, in a way, the number of footage that you get from video analysts, and how frequently you play among the top test nations. The batters are constantly prepared, they can line you up beautifully if you are the same person. Of course, there will be phases where you can keep it about their styles. You can find good length in certain spells but that's just not good enough to dismiss some good batters. I'm not saying just sticking with one method won't work, thankfully, I am one of those who has experimented and learned what's worked for me. Nevertheless, with all the analysis and footage going around, it's better that you stay on top of it," Ashwin responded.