India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests, Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on the story about his carrom-ball. For those who are unaware, it is the delivery that moves away from the right-hander with the flick of the middle finger and the delivery was first bowled by the former Sri Lankan international, Ajantha Mendis.
Some of the best batters in the world struggled to get a read on the carrom delivery. Ashwin had revealed to PTI that he saw Mendis first bowl the delivery during an age-group camp in Chennai.
However, it was not easy to execute the delivery as he desired, he had revealed that he began practising the variation back in 2006, but it took him as many as 3-4 years of work behind the scenes to get to a point where he was pleased with his execution during a match.
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Ashwin said, “I started bowling those balls in the nets in 2006 or 2007 onwards, which was probably the second season for me in first-class cricket.
It took me a good two years before I implemented it in the south zone leg matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (KS Subbaiah Pillai Trophy) in 2008. By 2010, I was probably pretty confident about the pace at which I bowled,” he added.
The veteran off-spinner remains a starter for the Indian Test side where he rarely whips out the variation. Ashwin has grown to rely on his stock delivery more often rather than the carrom delivery. He has a more patient approach to the game which has allowed him to cross 500 Test wickets milestone in the recently concluded home series against England at home.
However, he does implement the carrom ball. This can be seen more often when he plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he uses his variations, and angles from the crease among many others to get the better of the batters.
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Ashwin will certainly be eager to get back into the Test whites as the Indian team is set to take on Bangladesh in a two-match Test series at home. The first Test will be a massive one as it is being held at his hometown in Chennai, at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium on September 19.
(with PTI Inputs)
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