Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja thrived on a spinners’ paradise in Mohali, bamboozling South African batsmen in the first Test to secure a 108-run victory and a 1-0 lead with more than two days to spare.
The ghosts of Mohali then returned to haunt the South Africans in Bangalore as Ashwin and Jadeja again shared eight wickets to dismiss the visitors for 214 on the opening day of the second Test that, however, is best remembered for four days of washout that followed.
In both the Test matches, India played to their traditional strength, that’s spin.
In the first Test at Mohali, Ashwin, Jadeja, and Amit Mishra combined to pick 19 of the 20 South African wickets. In the second, which ended in a damp draw, Indian spin prowess once again came to the fore bundling out the visitors on the first day itself.
Both in Mohali and Bangalore, Ashwin, the leader of the country’s spin attack, was well supported by Jadeja. The spin twins worked in tandem to torment the visitors and further exposed their already known limitations of handling spin.
India face South Africa in the third and penultimate Test in Nagpur from November 25, where the ongoing first class season has so far saw spinners picking up 51 wickets and the seamers only 17. With the Indian team management preferring spin-friendly pitches, it can be said that the next Test might well be another venue for Ashwin and Jadeja specials, with possibly Mishra back in the mix after being dropped in Bangalore.
Ashwin, who has pocketed 12 wickets in the series so far, has been one of India’s best match-winners at home in recent times. Ever since he made his debut in 2011, the offie has made an impact in every home series.
In the 30 Tests he has played yet in his career, Ashwin has so far won three Man-of-the-Match awards and four Man of the Series: West Indies in India (2011/12) – 22 wickets, New Zealand in India (2012) – 18 wickets, Border Gavaskar Trophy (2013) – 29 wickets, India in Sri Lanka (2015) – 21 wickets.
On the other hand, Jadeja was dropped from the Indian squad a few months back due to a prolong poor patch. However, it proved to be a blessing in disguise for the left-arm spinner who got time to reflect on his game and look at areas of improvement.
Jadeja has complemented Ashwin as both lead the wickets tally with 12 scalps each from three completed innings in the ongoing four-Test series.
And the Vidarbha Ranji Trophy captain Subramaniam Badrinath feels the Nagpur wicket will certainly be in favour of India.
“Having seen the nature of the Jamtha track for the last couple of years, the odds are certainly in favour of India. The track here doesn’t provide much bounce. As the game progresses, it assists the spinners more and more. The bounce keeps getting lower and lower as the game goes on. I feel this track will test South African batsmen’s skills,” Badri told The Times of India.
A former state-mate of Ashwin, Badrinath added that the off-spinner will once again hold the key.
“I think he will enjoy bowling here. When I think of Ashwin, I think of his hunger, his drive to improve. He wants to keep getting better by each passing day… whatever aspect of his game whether it’s bowling, batting or fielding. He has so many options. He can bowl the doosra, he can bowl the wrong one, he can bowl the carrom ball. But he is cutting down all those options and thinking like an orthodox off spinner, trying to get wickets with his stock ball. It’s actually the right way,” Badrinath said.
In the opinion of former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar, the curator will prepare a turning track for this Test unlike the original batting-friendly pitch which Nagpur is known to offer.
“It will be seen how Nagpur and its association looks at Indian cricket; if they make a pitch that will suit Indians or make something keeping in mind the long-term Indian team which would test both India’s batting and bowling line-up,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“But as far as I think an attempt will be made to prepare a turning pitch.”
While one can easily say that the Indian team knows that the only way they can defeat South Africa is by creating a spin-friendly pitch, it remains to be seen how the visitors will cope up against their nemesis, Ashwin and Jadeja.