IND vs NZ, 2nd Test: Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja collectively took only 8 wickets on turning track. What went wrong for both of them?
In the past ten years, not many spinners have outplayed Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in home Tests. In this ongoing three-match red-ball series, the New Zealand spinners have certainly done so. As the results stand, the blue brigade has failed to win their maiden home Test series since losing to England in the 2012/13 season.
Even though most of the dissections have been towards the batting unit, the spin department hasn’t clicked for India as well. Mitchell Santner featured in the second five-day game of the series in Pune and claimed 13 wickets in just 48.3 overs. His excellent average of 12.07 and strike rate of 22.38 speaks highly of his quality and consistency.
However, the experienced combination of Ashwin and Jadeja (12 scalps in 132.2 overs) lost the battle in the first two games. The defeat came against a rookie Kiwi left-arm spinner, who was playing his 29th Test match.
The Black Caps' spin-trio bagged 21 wickets in 126.5 overs in the series so far. That’s a mountainous contribution in comparison to 26 scalps from India’s spin department in 196 overs. That draws the line on how much their strongest weapon in home Tests for the last 12 years has struggled.
Read More: IND vs NZ, 2nd Test, Day 3: India lose first Test series at home since 2012; Santner the hero for NZ
Rare failure of Veterans Ashwin and Jadeja at home
Spinners were expected to get the upper hand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. But both Ashwin and Jadeja had poor opening days of the game. The former went for 64 runs in 24 overs at an economy of 2.7, besides bagging three wickets. However, just two maidens in the spell meant that there wasn’t enough pressure on the Kiwi batters.
The case was the same with Jadeja in the first innings. The left-arm spinner didn’t bowl a single maiden in his 18 overs and returned wicketless. He made a slight comeback in the second innings, picking three wickets but, the economy of 3.7 wasn’t praiseworthy. Two of those wickets came in the form of Santner and Ajaz Patel. The Tamil Nadu off-spinner, on the other hand, was smashed at nearly four runs per over in the second innings.
On the same track, Washington Sundar, who was making a comeback in the side after more than three years, displayed consistency. In 42.1 overs of the game, the off-spinner grabbed 11 wickets at an economy of 2.72. This allowed the team to put pressure on the opponent batters for an extended period.
Ravindra Jadeja has an economy of 3.37 in the ongoing year, which is the highest in his career. His biggest strong point has been bowling at the same place, pushing the batters to commit a mistake. However, it’s yet to happen in this series.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling average so far in this series (43.50) is his second-worst in a home Test series in his career. The worst was 52.64 against England in 2012-13. In the same manner, Jadeja has displayed the third-worst average (37.50) in a home Test series in his career. The failure of both veterans has blown away India’s 12-year pride.
India hope to see fight back from spin veterans
Simplicity is something the spin-duo missed in this encounter. Both Santner and Jadeja are the same type of bowlers, but there was a noticeable difference between their match figures. The Hamilton-born changed the pace of his deliveries quite beautifully throughout the entire game. In one over, he was able to hike it up to 95 kmph from around 75 kmph.
“I tend to do that a lot in white-ball cricket - change the pace. I think today we kind of spoke about that kind of just under 90 kph (speed). (It) looked like it was spinning, and then for a period there when you went over the top it was bouncing a lot, so we spoke about maybe going a little bit slower,” the 32-year-old said during the press conference at the end of the second day.
Jadeja, on the other hand, lacked rhythm along with Ashwin. The latter had a tough time in the first innings of the opening Test, being smashed at an economy of nearly six. This could be because of tiredness or too much experimentation with lines and lengths. He wasn’t able to hold one point of the surface frequently. Tom Latham, Devon Conway, and Rachin Ravindra were quite comfortably taking the singles against him.
The left-handed batters in the visiting team never find it easy to score runs against Ashwin. But the left-handed batters in the top seven of this New Zealand team have an average of 51.27 in this series so far. That’s the third best since the start of 2011. Interestingly, England top the chart for the 2012/13 series, while West Indies are behind them during the debut series of the Chennai-born.
Both of these bowlers are rich in experience and hardly need any extra advice. On multiple past occasions, they have carried India over the line with their bowling skills. The need of the hour for them will be to get back to the drawing room and reassess the situation. After all, a 2-1 series defeat will sound better than a 3-0 whitewash. The final game of the series begins on November 01 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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