From bench to the spotlight,Ashwin excels

refrain,something like,“I wouldn’t want to name individuals as this was a team effort.” Gambhir,though,heaped praise on off-break bowler R Ashwin,then chose to focus on Yusuf Pathan’s heroics in Bangalore and said Yuvraj Singh was “India’s biggest match-winner at his position.”

Yet,it is the emergence of Ashwin,as a spinner with the potential to become a frontline option,and who can also bat a bit,that should end the debate as to whose name will be on the team sheet after Harbhajan Singh’s as the second spinner when the 15-member squad for the World Cup is announced.

On Friday,Ashwin picked up three wickets to finish with 11 in the series. But his rise cannot be seen in isolation,in this match or series,during which he has bowled in the Powerplay overs,taken wickets,contained batsmen,bowled big off-breaks and slipped in a carrom ball or two. Ashwin’s maturity,skill and temperament was first utilised by MS Dhoni while playing for the Chennai Super Kings. Ashwin took up the challenge and often,even after being hit out of the ground,showed the heart to flight the ball,change his pace and pick up wickets. An engineering graduate,Ashwin often out-foxed the batsman.

First picked against South Africa in February this year,Ashwin played only two ODI — the first in the Zimbabwe tri-series and the next against Australia at Visakhapatnam — before playing in all five games of this series. That Ashwin had the skill and temperament to lead the spin attack was confirmed when he troubled the New Zealand batsmen. Gambhir,taking a cue from Dhoni,showed no reluctance in playing Ashwin during the Powerplays.

“He is a quality bowler even as we saw in the IPL,the way he bowled in the Powerplays… If you have an off-spinner who can play in the Powerplays and slog overs it can be a great asset to the team. He was pretty handy and bowled brilliantly,” Gambhir said.