Beware Australia! Ravichandran Ashwin has new deliveries up his sleeve

Things have changed dramatically for Ravichandran Ashwin since the 2017 Champions Trophy. From being India’s premier spinner across formats, he now finds himself out of the limited-overs sides because of solid performances from wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

With only 17 ODIs remaining for the 2019 World Cup and Ravindra Jadeja also making his case for a third spinner, Ashwin’s chances of making it to the 15-member squad look bleak.

Despite that, Ashwin heaped praise on the two wrist spinners but also cautioned them.

“They have done incredibly well. Kuldeep has got all the variations. Players are finding it very hard to pick him. The biggest challenge for a bowler is when batsmen start to pick him,” Ashwin, who has taken 538 international wickets, said. “Both of them have enough skills to represent India for a long time. India’s spin cupboard is pretty healthy.”

Developing new deliveries

In IPL 2018, Ashwin, who is known to experiment with his variations, was seen bowling leg-spin. Even during the opening game of the Deodhar Trophy between India A and India B at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Tuesday, playing for India A, the offie bowled the carrom ball with a different technique.

“I have developed a couple of other deliveries. I don’t bowl the carom ball from the top, but from underneath. It doesn’t give a lot of trajectory to batsmen and skids through. I have also developed a few variations with normal off breaks,” said the 32-year-old.

Asked about the ongoing debate on whether SG balls should be replaced with Dukes, he said: “For a bowler, it’s not about the ball or the conditions. It’s about trying to adapt and understand the pace of the wicket. All I look forward is getting into rhythm.”