NEW DELHI: It is not a common sight that premier India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin turns ineffective in home conditions and that too when the pitches are conducive to spin bowling.
But the rare happened during the recently concluded India vs New Zealand series where Ashwin’s dip form with the ball was one of the factors in hosts’ unprecedented 3-0 series loss.
A master of home conditions, Ashwin, throughout his Test career has been the flagbearer of India’s home dominance but against the Kiwis, the off-spinner wasn’t at top of his game.
The 38-year-old looked off colour throughout the 3 matches and even the lesser inexperienced BlackCaps bowlers were able to exploit the conditions better than him.
Against New Zealand, Ashwin had a mere nine wickets to his name in six innings where he bowled a total of 98 overs. With the best figures of 3/63, Ashwin averaged over 41 and was unable to use the conditions to his favour.
As Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar bagged 16 wickets each in the series, Ashwin turned out to be the least effective among India spinners against the Kiwis.
Before the New Zealand series, Ashwin aged like a fine wine and had delivered stellar performances in recent years, contributing massively in India’s 18 straight home series wins.
Here’s a quick look at Ashwin performances at home since 2023:
In the Border-Gavaskar at home at the start of 2023, Ashwin featured in all the four games against Australia and picked up a staggering 25 wickets.
In the 166 overs that Ashwin bowled against Australia, he averaged a stunning 17.28 and registered best figures of 6/91.
India won the series 2-1.
Then in the 2024 homes series against England, Ashwin was part of all the 5 Tests where he bagged 26 wickets that included a couple of five-wicket hauls. In the 156.3 overs Ashwin bowled against England, he averaged 24.80 and had best match figures of 9 for 128.
Ashwin’s incredible run powered India to a 4-1 series triumph.
In September against Bangladesh, Ashwin played both Tests where India blanked the Tigers 2-0.
In the series, Ashwin took 11 wickets in the four innings and averaged 19.27.
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