R. Ashwin and other ageing stars of Indian cricket

Ravichandran Ashwin is 36. Like good wine, spinners mature with age, yet that same trait is often held against them. (File Image)

At various stages during the weekend, it appeared as if India’s Test cricketers would end 2022 the same way they had started it – with an overseas defeat. The year had begun with a crushing seven-wicket loss to South Africa in Johannesburg, when K.L. Rahul stood in as captain for the injured Virat Kohli. It threatened to culminate in another loss under Rahul, now subbing for the unavailable Rohit Sharma, as India made a meal of a modest fourth-innings target of 145 against Bangladesh.

At 74 for seven, with the top order cooling its heels back in the hut, an embarrassing first Test defeat to Bangladesh loomed. Enter R. Ashwin, stage left, to turn the game on its head. With the precision of a surgeon, the composure and poise of a Zen and an innate intelligence, the off-spinner from Chennai orchestrated one of the more famous rescue acts in recent Indian Test history, linking up with Shreyas Iyer in a match and series-sealing eighth-wicket alliance.

Ashwin’s contribution in the unbroken stand of 71 was a sparkling 42. It was feisty, it was courageous, it was well planned and neatly crafted, it was attractive, strokeful and emphatic. It was in keeping with the batting nous of a man with five Test hundreds, though what made this effort more commendable was the circumstances under which it came, with a series and potentially a place in the final of the World Test Championship on the line and the weight of the world on his and Iyer’s sturdy shoulders.

Ashwin, as we have kept reminding ourselves for a while, is 36 years old. Or young, he might counter with typical insouciance. Even he can’t affect casual indifference at the notion that he is closer to the end of his career than the start. The world of sport is cruelly ageistic, more so the world of team sport. And if one is a bowler in a cricket team, then look out!

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It’s one of the great paradoxes that pundits aver that like good wine, spinners mature with age, yet that same trait is often held against them. It’s also a reflection of the lack of spinning resources that on the odd occasion when Ashwin has been unavailable for selection or the need for a second off-spinner has been felt, the decision-makers have been forced to turn to Jayant Yadav, who at 32 is no spring chicken himself.

The Player of the Match award that Ashwin earned for his all-round heroics in Mirpur merely buttressed the reality that 36 or not, Ashwin has plenty to offer the Test team, especially in the sub-continent. It is likely that once Ravindra Jadeja is fit and available, Ashwin will play outside Asia primarily only when India field two spinners, but in familiar conditions in India and in neighbouring lands, he is still more than a handful with his skill and craft, hunger and desire, ambition and zeal. His white-ball international days are almost certainly behind him, which means he can pace himself better, work on his fitness and bowling and continue to push the boundary as he seeks to add to his already impressive tally of 449 Test wickets.

Ashwin is the leader of the ‘golden oldies’ pack in the Indian Test team. Current all-format skipper Rohit is 35 and so is Umesh Yadav, the supremely fit paceman who made his international debut 12 and a half years back. Batting stalwarts Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli are 34, as is crack all-rounder Jadeja. All other things being equal, all of these apart from Umesh can be considered Test regulars, which means there is one of two ways to look at things – that India is blessed to have such immense experience to draw from, or that they are nearing the throes of transition and there is a need to gradually infuse young, new blood.

Such is the nature of cricket that batsmen can often play well into their late 30s, form and fitness willing. Rahul Dravid, the current head coach, was 39 when he called time on his international career, Sachin Tendulkar’s final Test appearance came six months after his 40th birthday. Without taking anything away from the batting fraternity, their bodies don’t endure the same agony and wear-and-tear of the bowlers’, pacers and spinners alike. Bowling is an unnatural activity and the toll it takes on various body parts is immense, at times irrevocable. That’s why James Anderson is an exception – at 40, the England swing exponent seems untouched by the ravages of time as he keeps picking up Test wickets for fun.

As a new year, and newer challenges, beckon, there is plenty to ponder over for Dravid and a soon-to-be-installed senior national selection panel. How long before serious thought is given to passing the baton? It’s a question that should seize them particularly with regard to Kohli. For all the subliminal runs he has stacked up in white-ball cricket in the second half of this year, the former skipper has been a distinct letdown in Tests for three years in a row. From the start of 2020, in 20 Tests, he has eked out only 917 runs, his average an unedifying 26.20, six half-centuries in 36 innings are extremely poor returns for a top-order batsman. There is a school of thought which believes that if he isn’t already on borrowed Test time, he should be. Four Tests at home against Australia lie in store in February-March. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, this quartet of games could prove a seminal chapter in Kohli’s glorious career.

In the year of the 50-over World Cup, and that too at home, it’s understandable that much of the attention will centre around preparations for the showpiece event in October-November. But that won’t alter the fact that India must address issues with potentially far-reaching ramifications when it comes to the Test arena. For now, there is unlikely to be a massive shake-up in the established order, but it will be interesting to see how the squad stacks up when it departs for South Africa next December for a two-match series.