From past couple of years, Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has shown tremendous improvement in his bowling and has eventually become one of the most difficult bowlers to face in Test cricket.
Ashwin has managed to add unrecognizable variations to his bowling and this has made a whole lot of difference to his spin bowling. Here are 5 of the most popular variations bowled by the Chennai spinner:
1. Off-spinner
Ashwin’s orthodox delivery, Ashwin has two types of grips. Based on what he is planning on doing, he releases the delivery. The first one has an over spin and usually, moves towards the direction of fine leg region. When he wants to force the batsman to play the lofted shot, Ashwin bowls this delivery.
The other one has more side spin to it and it also moves toward the fine leg and usually, it is his stock delivery that can be used to extract some extra purchase from the wicket. He bowls these deliveries with only his index and thumb.
2. Top Spin
Another of Ashwin’s variations that are very hard for batsmen to pick out and hit. The top spin produces more bounce than turn. Ashwin bowls this delivery with an intention of landing it on the seam, the top spin delivery by him tends to bounce a little extra and can generate an edge.
It is a difficult delivery to implement but Ashwin is a master of his art and has managed to use it in the apt situations to gain extra purchase off the surface.
3. Leg spin
Recently, Ashwin has added a new weapon to his armory. Despite being an off-spinner, he can now bowl some leg spin deliveries as well to completely deceive the batsman. His action is elegant and more finger-based, which means that it is easier for him to pull out a leg-spin delivery out of nowhere.
It seems that he will start using this variation regularly in upcoming matches.
4. Slider
Ashwin generally uses the slider when he opens the bowling for India. Used a lot in T20 matches, Ashwin has bowled the slider in order to beat batsmen with pace more than spin.
The slider is bowled with the seam by considering the fact that there is less spin in the opening overs, it is a great delivery to deceive any batsmen. It comes at a higher pace than a normal delivery and batsman who are looking to attack are often left in the heave thanks to that extra bit of pace.
5. Carom ball
Thecarromm ball that R Ashwin owns is one of his go-to deliveries when he is going through a bad patch in the match. It is a delivery that can beat the batsmen because of its difficulty in picking up and hitting it. The delivery is bowled with a conventional off-spinning technique but spins the other way.
It is most operative when used against the tail-enders and Ashwin has tugged many wickets in the lower order of oppositions using this delivery.
