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Ashwin can still clearly recall his very first steps in Chepauk. On his YouTube account, he posted a vlog detailing his experience attending trials for the Under-14 and Under-16 teams and waiting to find out if he had made the cut. He would not allow his father take him home until he purchased him pads exactly like the ones Sachin Tendulkar used. He treasures being a part of this ground’s history. He was present when Tendulkar made that historic hundred against Pakistan.
He will never forget the century he made and the five-for he took here in 2021 against England. Two years ago, Ashwin stated, “I’ve wondered if I would ever play on this ground and if people would turn out and clap for me.” Actually, they went much farther than that; they knew he was about to bowl, so they would call his name to the tune of “Sachiiiiin-Sachin” even if he did nothing but remove his cap off his head.
Saving India from 144 for 6 and matching MS Dhoni’s record for Test centuries in the process. stopping Shane Warne’s record of five wicket hauls while securing a 280-run victory. Posing a threat on a pitch that required little spin until the third morning. Taking home the eighth Player-of-the-Match trophy. Ashwin spent a lot of time practicing his batting before the TNPL, thus all of this was the product of his rigorous preparation and quick analysis of the circumstances he would be bowling in.
“The beauty about a red-soil [pitch] is, you put revs on it, there is value [even if there is no turn]. Because there is bounce. You will get hit but there is bounce. You play on some black clay surfaces around the country elsewhere, without naming them, you have to do a lot of hard work. You put a lot of revs and see nothing come out of it. And sometimes, it’s better to not put revs on in certain places. So, to even understand all these things, to begin to understand and talk about it, is a fair amount of learning for me. And it’s happened over the years. Like I said, this one’s got solid bounce. And I love to play on a surface like this and get hit than play on another surface.”
Understanding the purpose of the pitch is just one aspect of the difficulty. Ashwin needs to figure out a way around them as the batsman presents the other one. He had observed symptoms of the bite on the third evening, should he slow down his pace somewhat. Mominul Haque attempted a sweep, but an exaggerated bounce easily defeated both him and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. The ball’s speed was merely 80.4 kph.
With this knowledge, Ashwin prepared his traps. Initially, in order to keep Bangladesh stuck on the crease, he would feed them the quicker, flatter deliveries. Then he would toss one up, and if all went according to plan, the batter would be undone since he was set up to expect a specific tempo and length.
“I was earning my right to bowl slower every now and then. Because on certain pitches where you get help out of surface, you can afford to toss the ball a little more, but this is a surface where need to change up your pace, change up your length, and then pull the one that’s slower. So very often the one that was reacting off the surface was really slow.”
Two more mentioned how excellent he is at attacking a batter’s defence. As he was playing on their inside edge and there were many of left-hand batsmen, he bowled around the wicket for almost the whole Test match. The ball was set to dip on them and then kick up off the pitch, so he would utilise his length to pull them forward and his overspin to trap them.
Shakib was caught during this phase at short leg.
Mominul, who bowled on the outside edge, was the best of the bunch. In some way, Ashwin managed to get enough turn to beat the bat without going over the stumps. In order to force the batter to play off line, it was helpful to go a bit wider at the crease. He then made a move with the seam to reduce the amount of assistance he would receive off the track.
An offbreak bowler’s seam should often point towards first slip. This one has much more squared-off pointing. As the ball started its descent onto the pitch, it also became jumbled. The rotation and bounce that a fingerspinner obtains are typically caused by an upright seam. Here, Ashwin deliberately placed restrictions on both to give what transpired—beating the batsman but not the stumps—a chance to occur.
This isn’t how things always operate. In certain situations, the angle may be insufficient to bring the ball into the middle of the bat. However, Ashwin is aware that Chepauk has always had his back. “Some energy just pulls me into this ground.”