Evolution of Ravichandran Ashwin, from a rookie opener to a spin maestro

The difference between elite players and ordinary players is their mindset. Their is marginal difference in their skillset but a massive difference in how they perceive and act as per game situations. It is rightly said that cricket is 70% brain game and its the smartest players who carve the history. Today in this article by ZAP cricket, we will discuss one of the smartest cricketers in modern day cricket- Ravichandran Ashwin aka Ash.  

He is a right arm off spinner, a right hand batsman and is the backbone of India’s spin department. The reason for his success at the highest level is primarily his tactics as a bowler and as a batsman. He is a true student of the game, who loves to challenge the opponents. 

Apart from playing cricket, he also runs a cricket academy called Gen-Next Cricket Institute and has his own YouTube channel where he shares his insights about the game. 

Early life and domestic cricket of R Ashwin 

Born on 17 September, 1986, Ashwin attended Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan and St. Bede’s School. After that, he did his graduation in Information Technology from SSN College of Engineering, Chennai. He was a studious student since very beginning but cricket came very smoothly into his life. His father played club cricket as a fast bowler and that’s where he honed the cricket skills from. 

Initially, Ashwin started as an opening batter but eventually became an off spinner. In fact, he played India U17 as an opening batter only. He trained under various coaches- Mr. Chandrasekar Rao, Mr. CK Vijaya Kumar and Mr. Sunil Subramanium in different phases of his career.

He played domestic cricket for Tamil Nadu and made his Ranji trophy debut when he was 20, that is, in 2006. Next year, in 2017, he made his List A debut as well.

International career of R Ashwin 

Ashwin made his ODI debut on 5 June, 2010 vs Sri Lanka, T20I debut on 12 June, 2010 vs Zimbabwe and Test debut on 6 November, 2011 vs West Indies. Since then, he has been a vital part of Indian dressing room. Here are Ashwin’s career highlights till now: 

• Won 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy 
• Won Asia Cup in 2010 and in 2016

• Only player to score 3000+ test runs and take 500+ test wickets
• Fastest to reach 250, 300 and 350 wickets in test cricket 
• Only Indian cricketer to score a century and take five wickets in the same match
• First Indian to take 50 T20I wickets 
• Second highest wicket taker in test for India
• Took a five wicket haul in his Test debut 

The reason for his success at the highest level is his versitality as a bowler. He can bowl a number of variations and puzzle the batsman’s mind. Moreover, he has the special quality of analysing the weaknesses of his opponents, and that always gives him an edge over others. He knows how to negotiate with ball and with bat.

International stats of R Ashwin 

List of centuries of R Ashwin 

Key matchups 

Awards and and recognitions

• Won most Man of the series awards- 11 times

• ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2016 and ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year in 2016
• ICC Men’s Test Team of the decade in 2011-20
• Arjuna Award in 2015
• Polly Umrigar Award: 2012-13
• CEAT International Cricketer of the Year: 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2021

Ashwin in franchise and county cricket

So far, Ashwin has played for five franchises in IPL and has won two IPL titles, that is, in, 2010 and 2011. Moreover, he has also won 2010 Champions League, again with CSK, and was leading wicket taker and Player of the tournament then. His record with various franchises has been as follows: 

In TNPL, Ashwin plays for Dindigul Dragons and has left his spark there as well. He won the title as captain in 2024.

In County cricket, Ashwin represented Worcestershire in 2017, Nottinghamshire in 2019 and Surrey in 2021. Hence, he holds a lot of experience in that part of world as well.