Ravichandran Ashwin’s ascent to the top rung of Test bowlers is testament to the vast improvement in his bowling in 2015, a year which he began in tough terrain for spin bowlers — Australia’s true and
Ravichandran Ashwin’s ascent to the top rung of Test bowlers is testament to the vast improvement in his bowling in 2015, a year which he began in tough terrain for spin bowlers — Australia’s true and sporting pitches. The lessons he learned and the variations he picked up helped him become a far more complete bowler who found phenomenal success on the more helpful pitches of Sri Lanka and India. The fact that no Indian bowler has topped these computerised rankings since Bishen Bedi in 1973 points to the enormity of Ashwin’s achievement. The engineering graduate is a thinking cricketer who has also proved resolute with the bat, as reflected in his keeping the top Test all-rounder’s spot a third year in a row. Harbhajan Singh was India’s best off-spinner since the engineers Prasanna and Venkataraghavan were part of the famed quartet of spinners who wove a web of mystery. Ashwin promises to take the art to the next level with his finger-flicked “carrom” ball as well as an experimental leg break.
Test skipper Virat Kohli was adjudged BCCI’s Cricketer of the Year for leading Team India to a rare away series win in Sri Lanka and downing the world’s top ranked Tests die South Africa 3-0. In typical Indian style even the Delhi lad’s coronation became a political issue with the AAP using an interview he gave to slam the country’s finance minister and former president of DDCA in their ongoing war. It is a tribute to the professionalism of our cricketers that they have played through a very contentious year of cricket administration without letting controversies cloud their performance.
