20 December,2024 08:00 AM IST | Melbourne | R Kaushik
Washington Sundar (left) with Ravindra Jadeja. Pic/AFP
As his former teammates were still on their way from Brisbane to Melbourne on Thursday afternoon, R Ashwin landed to a hero's welcome in Chennai on his first day as a retired India cricketer. The seismic aftershocks of his sudden and surprise retirement announcement are still being felt, its timing and import being discussed and debated and dissected in several quarters. Ashwin made it clear, again, in his hometown that he was far from done as a cricketer, that while he would no longer don the India jersey, he was very much looking forward to his second innings in the IPL with Chennai Super Kings, with whom he started his franchise journey more than a decade and a half ago.
A player of Ashwin's quality is irreplaceable. His wickets, his runs, his experience, his wisdom - they haven't come about suddenly or by accident. India haven't just lost someone who took 537 wickets and scored more than 3500 runs in Test cricket; they will also have to reconcile to life without his immense knowledge and the ability to read situations like few others.
Sport, like time, of course, doesn't stop for anyone and so the show will go on, with or without Ashwin. India are fortunate that while they might not be able to find the next Ashwin, they are reasonably well stocked in the spin department for the immediate future.
Over the last few years, Ravindra Jadeja has emerged as the country's premier red-ball spinner overseas. Having initially operated in Ashwin's shadows, Jadeja has broken free emphatically, making himself practically indispensable with his all-round skills. His first-innings bowling at the Gabba earlier in the week was an aberration of sorts; Jadeja is an unyielding left-arm spinner who often gives very little away, and he has grown as a Test batter who has batted as high as at No. 5 with no little success.
One of the main reasons for Ashwin playing a mere five Tests outside Asia in the last two and a half years is the rising eminence of the ebullient all-rounder from Navagam in Gujarat. Jadeja recently turned 36, but he is a very, very fit and has a fair amount of cricket ahead of him, especially now that he has called it quits internationally from the 20-over game.
India have also taken great heart from how Washington Sundar has acquitted himself on his comeback to Test cricket after three and a half years. The younger man from Chennai is no Ashwin when it comes to bowling skills, but he doesn't need to be. Like he showed in Pune and Mumbai against New Zealand, he has grown by leaps and bounds as an off-spinner and will only get better as he plays more frequently at the highest level. Spinners thrive on confidence, as much as anything else. Now that he is assured of a longish run at least at home, Washington is certain to become a more rounded and astute bowler; he has always been a correct and technically sound batter, a tremendous asset considering India have gotten used to spinning all-rounders.
And then, there is Axar Patel, of the Jadeja ilk waiting in the wings, waiting to get a look back in. India will definitely miss Ashwin, but the cupboard isn't bare. Not by a long way.
