IPL 2021: Ravichandran Ashwin Doesn’t Bowl Off Spin In T20s Unlike Tests, Says Sanjay Manjrekar
Apr 11, 2021 at 2:17 PM
Sanjay Manjrekar believes Ravichandran Ashwin’s insistence on using too many variations in white-ball cricket is leading to his downfall. Sanjay Manjrekar said on Sunday that the off-spinner should put more trust in his stock delivery in the shorter formats as he does in Test matches.
Ravichandran Ashwin had a fairly expensive outing against Chennai Super Kings in the 2nd match of ongoing IPL 2021. He picked up the solitary wicket of Moeen Ali but got hit for 47 runs in his four overs, the second-worst economy rate in the match for his team.
Sanjay Manjrekar: Ravichandran Ashwin Hardly Bowls The Off-Spin In White Ball T20 Cricket
The off-spinner was seen trying several variations during the match, including a Kedar Jadhav-style round-arm delivery. However, none of them seemed to work against the likes of Moeen Ali and Suresh Raina who smashed him for four boundaries and as many sixes.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar compared Ravichandran Ashwin with leg-spinner Amit Mishra, pointing out that there wasn’t much change in Amit Mishra’s bowling across formats. The former batsman added that Ravichandran Ashwin tries to ‘escape punishment’ with his variations and in turn impedes his own strengths.
“For Amit Mishra, there isn’t much change in how he bowls in Test and T20 cricket. He sticks to his strength and his intent is to get the ball to turn.
“Ashwin doesn’t bowl the off-spinner! He hardly bowls the off-spinner in white-ball cricket. In Test matches, that’s his main delivery. In white-ball cricket, there’s a lot of other stuff, the pause and the round-arm delivery and stuff like that which I don’t really like too much.”
“I think Ashwin, when he gets into this white-ball circle, he’s only thinking about not getting hit and he thinks the only way to escape punishment is to have all these kinds of variations and he goes away from his main strength which is him being this wonderful off-spinner.
“So in return, you don’t get much return off the pitch because he’s not bowling any turning deliveries,” said Sanjay Manjrekar.
Sanjay Manjrekar: Ravichandran Ashwin Of Test matches Is Not Who One See In White Ball Cricket But Both Suresh Raina And Moeen Ali Played Some Superb Shots
Speaking further on the subject, Sanjay Manjrekar pointed to the recent demands from fans and the cricket fraternity to include Ravichandran Ashwin in India’s limited-overs squads. Sanjay Manjrekar argued that Ravichandran Ashwin’s skills in the shorter formats are inferior to his prowess in the longest format.
“It wasn’t a case of Ashwin bowling badly. I think both Raina and Moeen played some superb shots that put him off his length, they hit the good balls for sixes. But this is the thing with Ashwin that we saw in the first game… a lot of people believe that he should be part of the white-ball format for India but the Ashwin that you see in Test matches is not who you see in white-ball cricket,” said Sanjay Manjrekar.
Ravichandran Ashwin registered figures of 1/47 while Tom Curran had figures of 1/40. Chris Woakes and Avesh Khan picked 2 scalps apiece and conceded only 41 runs in 8 overs between them. The Delhi Capitals will play their next game on April 15 against the Rajasthan Royals.