Till not too long ago, R Ashwin was pushed further down the order and the move to promote him could be seen as coach Anil Kumble's first influence writes, Aakash Chopra
R Ashwin celebrates his 100 against West Indies at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday. Pic/AFP
India played a near-perfect Test match in Antigua to register its biggest win outside Asia. Right from calling the toss correctly till removing the last West Indian batsman, India didn't put a step wrong. But as much as it's about India's dominance, it's equally about West Indies' decline in the longer format, for it was their biggest defeat at home.
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R Ashwin celebrates his 100 against West Indies at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday. Pic/AFP
The erstwhile powerhouse of international cricket has now become a mere participant in Test cricket. West Indies has already failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy (to be held in 2017) and if there were a Test Championship, they wouldn't qualify for that too. The advent of T20 threatened to create T20 specialist teams and while the rest have managed to strike the right balance thus far, West Indies have become the first team to master the shortest format albeit at the cost of the other two formats.
A thorough preparation
Still, it's unfair to blame the winner for the loser's lack of quality. The Indian team's preparation was thorough for this tour as the BCCI conducted a camp in India before reaching the West Indies a couple of weeks before the first Test and played two warm-up games. Most teams are guilty of starting slowly overseas, for there's never enough time to acclimatise and prepare for the challenges, but that isn't the case with this Indian team and results are there for everyone to see. Kumble and Kohli had to take a couple of huge calls before this Test match with regards to the playing XI.
R Ashwin bowls on Day Four against WI on Sunday. He claimed 7-83 in the second innings
KL Rahul made a strong case for himself by scoring runs in both the warm-up games and it must have taken a leap of faith to stick with Dhawan one more time. The team management must be relieved to see Dhawan striking form in the first game itself. Also, the decision to go in with four or five specialist bowlers, for the tendency is to err on the side of caution for the first game.
It was heartening to see that India not just continued with its five-bowler theory but also, resisted the temptation of picking the fifth bowler for his batting abilities. India has been guilty of doing that in the past because Saha hasn't quite given enough confidence as a batsman at No 6. To address this issue, India promoted Ashwin to No 6 and this move seemed to have ended this debate for the time being.
Ashwin's third Test century further reiterated the fact that instead of looking for an all-rounder outside, it's worth investing in the resource that's available. Ashwin not only shared a long stand with Kohli, but also batted as he normally does — like a proper batsman. He isn't a bowler who can bat a bit, for his technique and temperament are of a top quality Test batsman. Till not too long ago, he was pushed further down the order and this move could be seen as Kumble's first influence.
The other and rather painful side of playing five bowlers is that you are left with only five proper batsmen, which means that you can't afford even a mini collapse. India did find itself in a slight spot of bother at 236-4 when Rahane got out for 22. The situation isn't alarming if there were an extra batsman available but if you have only five batsmen, the tail starts as soon as you lose the fourth wicket. That's where Kohli dug his heels in further and notched up his first double century.
Virat Kohli's year
This is the year of Virat Kohli. For formats and venues have changed, not his form. His focus is not just on scoring runs but on taking his team to a position of strength and Antigua was no different. It's almost certain that Kohli will be scoring more double centuries, for there are only two things that stop players from doing so in Tests — their strike rate and their fitness. Kohli has no issues on both these counts. Therefore, it's fair to assume that the wait for the second double century won't be as long as the first one.
Aakash Chopra is a former India Test opener
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