When New Zealand landed in India after their 2-0 series defeat in Sri Lanka, no one gave them a chance to create history by beating the Blur Brigade in a rare Test series. Ravichandran Ashwin, the veteran spin all-rounder who always contributes to these victories with both bat and ball, faced the last Test series defeat at home in 2012/13, towards the start of his career.
When the Blackcaps earned the victory in the very first game of the series at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, it was their first red-ball win in India after 36 years. Ravichandran Ashwin went through a very poor game, especially with the ball. The management decided to dish out a spin-friendly slow and low turner for the second game in Pune.
The Chennai-born started well, picking up the first three wickets in the encounter, but hardly looked in his fine rhythm. The lengths were mostly on the shorter side, with no such regularity on his line, making it comfortable for the batters to get the runs. The same trend continued in the final game at the Wankhede Stadium.
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Ravichandran Ashwin finished with just nine wickets in six innings at an average of 41.22 and a strike rate of 65.33 with the best of 3/63 in an innings. He nearly bowled the double number of overs of the Kiwi left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who pocketed 13 scalps in Pune to claim the series for the Kiwis.
The 38-year-old made a very good start in the home season with a century in the first innings of the Chennai Test against Bangladesh, where he saved the team from the early pressure of losing five wickets in the second session of the opening day.
Ravichandran Ashwin takes the blame for the series whitewash
The performance of the Tom Latham-led side was excellent in all departments of the game for the entire series. Their decision to attack the classical spinners of the home side contributed so much that they straightway came under pressure from the start of their spell and weren’t allowed to make a comeback.
Even their batters looked vulnerable against the quality spin attack of the New Zealand side. Virat Kohli could make only 93 runs in six innings at an average of 15.50 with one solitary half-century, while Rohit Sharma, the captain of the side, could gather only 91 runs at an average of around 15.
Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on the heartbreaking series defeat, besides labeling it as a ‘shattering experience.’
“We have been hit by a 3-0 loss to New Zealand. I read that it has never happened in India in history. I don’t know how to react to it. I know that in my career and my experience in cricket, we don’t have so many emotions when we play. But it’s a very shattering experience. That’s the right word for it. I didn’t know how to react or respond to it for the last 2-3 days.” The veteran off-spinner expressed in the video shared on his YouTube channel.
Amidst the horror show from the batters for the entire series, the spinner took the blame on himself for not being able to contribute with the bat in the lower order. He also credited the Kiwi bowlers for putting on a superb show.
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“I expect a lot from myself. I am a guy who says I am the reason for everything that went wrong. I am also a big reason and a big part of it. I couldn’t contribute to the lower-order runs. As a bowler, I know that runs are a vital currency for a bowler. I started well in many places, then I threw it away on a couple of occasions.” Ravichandran Ashwin concluded.
India will now need to win four of their last five games to confirm qualification for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25.
