Nobel for Ravichandran Ashwin 

Nobel for Ravichandran Ashwin 

V GangadharUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 08:05 PM IST
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India's Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates the wicket of South Africa's Temba Bavuma during the fourth day of the fourth Test cricket match between India and South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on December 6, 2015. AFP PHOTO / Money SHARMA -----IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE ---- |

Exhibiting rare all round brilliance Indian spinner Ashwin has every right to claim he is a great scientist and be rewarded by the government and even the Nobel Science Prize, says V GANGADHAR.

There are lobbies all over world capitals, pushing for different kinds of Nobel Prizes. Has anyone paused to think why year after year, US citizens bag most of Awards including Nobels in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine or Economics leaving very little to other nations like India despite often howling about the ‘success’ of India-born (people of Indian origin) winners who just had the fortune to be born in India but otherwise lived and worked for their successes elsewhere.

Tennis star from India, Sania Mirza trumpets her success as the world’s best women player when the ‘real’ top-notchers do not compete in the Doubles events, restricting their appearance only for the Singles events. This category ‘India-born’ heroes men and women is increasing day by day causing problems to Selection Committees of various kinds.

The latest to join the Nobel Seeking Indian Lobbies is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in its new ‘avtar’ minus the ‘Srini’ group and hoping that its new face of Manohar and Co would pave the way for a fresh welcome and recognition by the BCCI And why not? Under the Srini management, the BCCI suffered grievously and was deprived of many honours. With Manohar, it hoped for a new era.

Scandals were camouflaged. India may have flouted every single rule and law in pitch making. The pitches made for the four test matches turned square from day 1. Ravindra Jadeja who was a non-entity net bowler suddenly began to reap dozens of wickets whenever he was handled the ball and found himself among the first ten bowlers in the world. As for Ravichandra Ashwin nicknamed ‘Moose’ by his teammates for his uncanny resemblance to the ‘Moose’ character in the ‘Archie comics’ Team India and BCCI had different plans.

Team MD Ravi Shastri felt that Ashwin a true blood ‘Madrasi’ possessed very rare IQ and belonged to the super Brainy class. Normally in India and the rest of the world brains were not associated with games. Viswanathan Anand being a ‘chess Man’ was an exception. But Ashwin with his heavy jowls and empty looks would never qualify for any brainy look award. But there had to be a rethinking when in a home series he bagged (126 wkts in 19 tests!) Being an off-spinner he had to have brains.

Earlier in his career, Ashwin did take wickets but now they came in a rush. In the summer of 1956 England off-spinner Jim Laker against Australia was viewed as a so-so off-spinner taking 2 0r 3 wickets test and was not viewed as much of a threat. But off-spinners bloom suddenly and at Old Trafford, Manchester, Laker achieved the near-impossible of taking 19 wickets in the test and 46 wickets in the series.

Ash so far has not come anywhere near that figure. Spinners work better in pairs. In the Old Trafford test as Laker reaped wickets as, his partner Tony Lock who ought to have been deadlier took just one wicket. At Delhi Ashwin allowed the rest of the Indian bowlers to take more wickets.

Funny game, this cricket. Spinners are supposed to excel with more variety Ashwin, two or three years back was taking fewer wickets though  his variety was more  prodigious (off spinner, occasional leg spinner, the carrom bal, the quicker ball, full tosses  and so on). But concentrating mainly on the off spinner Ash bagged his richest haul against South Africa in the last two months. Strange are the ways of cricket.

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