Ashwin’s parents insists on good academics to make up for failure to achieve anything substantial in cricket. His mother wanted him to take medicine whereas he wanted to pursue Commerce so that he can concentrate on cricket. His father was on the fence. As a compromise, he chose engineering, cleared the entrace exam and got a seat in Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College though his scores were less. Marks were awarded if you are an outstanding in sports. Having played for Indian U-17, he got some merit points which helped his case. Ashwin had a tough time managing studies and cricket. He then goes onto describe how he and his friends prepared for the exam.
Ashwin then reminisces about a young Tamil Nadu who went by the name of Dinesh Karthik. I have always said that Karthik had all the ability and the skill to flourish at the highest level. He never really had any weakness. For the talent that he possessed, he must have been a permanent picture in the Indian team. Unfortunately, Karthik never achieved the heights that his talent demanded. Here, Ashwin describes how he used to visit the games where Karthik played because of the sheer pleasure of watching him bat. He was fascinated so much by Karthik that he had dedicated a couple of pages to him. Just goes to show how much of a talent Karthik was.
Initial games
By 2006, Ashwin was expecting to be selected in the Ranji Trophy squad for Tamil Nadu. He gets into the probables camp but was not selected in the squad. The spot goes to Ashish Kapoor. Tamil Nadu lose the first couple of games and Ashwin was called up to make his debut during the 3rd game. He picks up 5 wickets in the game but TN still lose the game. At the end of the season,TN did very badly but Ashwin’s performance was encouraging with 31 wickets at 16.93. He goes onto describe one particular session against UP with UP needing just 129 to win.
Raina and Kaif opened the innings and reached a healthy 67 for 1. Ashwin asked the captain Badrinath to give him the ball and asked for a field that was predominantly off-side oriented. He kept bowling well wide of the offstump. The UP batsmen did not have space to score and hence, tried to hit on the leg. In doing so, he kept losing wickets and were 89 for 7 at one stage but held onto a draw. From a definite loss to draw for TN because of Ashwin’s thinking.
Another incident, this time, he bowled to the international players from India and the West Indies at the Chepauk nets. He was perplexed because none of them acknowledged his bowling, be it when he got them out or when he beat their bats repeatedly. Ashwin was annoyed and informed the groundsman that he will not be going to the nets from the next day onwards. He vowed not to be a nets bowler only ever again.
The Carrom ball
Ashwin goes to Sri Lanka to play in the MJ Gopalan Trophy, which was played between TN and Sri Lanka but has since been stopped. There he find Rangana Herath bowl with a peculiar grip. It is called the Sodukku ball in Madras street cricket parlance. However, to do the same with a leather ball is difficult. Ashwin decides to practice it when he gets back home. In the Tamil Nadu nets, he tries this but it mostly fell short. Vijay get annoyed and starts to hit with one hand. Badri was annoyed too but didn’t reveal anything.
Ashwin protests that why should the batsmen always be the one to dominate? The bowler too has an equal say. The bowler can bowl without the batsman but the batsman cannot bat without a bowler. Ashwin was only trying to improve. He also wonders why should the bowler apologise to the batsman for a bad delivery whereas the batsman does not when plays a fault shot?
Raman and his contribution
WV Raman, the Tamil Nadu coach gives him a separate net to practice his new delivery so that he does not disturb the nets session. With every game, his relationship with Raman increases and they became good friends. Raman teaches him about alignment and angular run-up.
Raman helps Ashwin in establishing control. He says for a spinner, length, line and revolutions are the key. Revolutions are involuntary. If the line is correct, length can wary. Raman tells Ashwin that the second season of Ranji will decide whether Ashwin can go onto become an Indian cricketer. Raman sometimes tells Ashwin to run a bit slower and some other times, a bit faster. Ashwin follows those instructions and to his amazement, saw how the ball behaved everytime.
While playing in the Duleep Trophy, BCCI launches the IPL. Franchise owners were announced and they start picking players. CSK owned by Indian Cements picks Muralitharan but Ashwin wasn’t. He calls other teams but to of no avail. Finally, it happened while he turned up for Jolly Rovers against Vijay Cricket Club in the final of the first division. It is a team owned by Srinivasan.
Ashwin picks up 5 and was awarded the man of the match. Srikkanth who presides the presentation says loudly that he is looking for to work with Ashwin within the CSK setup without realising that he wasn’t picked. The next day, Ashwin receives a call from VB Chandrasekhar to meet him and sign the contract.
Other blogs in the Ashwin series
https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-and-the-opening/
https://icricketcritique.com/it-was-all-on-the-streets/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-heartbreak-and-the-elation/