By: Sandipan Bose
Long spells make a lot of difference to a bowler in Test cricket. Firstly, it helps a bowler to settle down with a nice rhythm. Secondly, he can get time to study the opponent while bowling and also set up the batsmen to bite his bait.
A bowler can actually plan how to stop the flow of runs by bowling maiden overs and eventually luring the batsmen to attack, which may lead to dismissals.
Whereas in short spells, a bowler hardly gets time to get into a thinking mode. He is mostly rushing through his overs and always in two minds – whether to attack the batsmen for wickets or contain the flow of runs.
In a nutshell, no one likes short spells, be it a pacer or a spinner. India’s Ravichandran Ashwin is no different. He couldn’t get a long spell in the first innings of the opening Test match against the West Indies.
The Indian pace attack – led by experienced Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav – was ruling the roost on a pitch that had a plenty of pace and bounce.
In the fourth innings, the pitch conditions changed a little bit and Ashwin was given a longish spell after the lunch session on Day 4 after having a word with captain Virat Kohli.
Soon, Ashwin got his rhythm back and ran through the West Indies batting order with a seven wicket haul in the fourth innings of the Antigua Test.
He also admitted that he had to struggle a bit with his rhythm in the first innings, but the long-spell changed it all. Ashwin’s confidence also got a big boosted by his century in the first innings.
It gave him the courage to go out there and express himself with the ball. In other words, he is right now in the running to become a leading allrounder in Test cricket.
