Top spin tale

 Have we missed the significance of Ashwin's 300 wickets in the fewest Tests?

Indian off spinner R Ashwin beat the legendary Dennis Lillee's record of getting to the landmark of 300 Test wickets in the least number of matches last week in Sri Lanka, but have we missed the import of this massive achievement? First up, it needs to be underlined that this a world record and not an Indian record. That in itself puts the feat on a different plane, especially when most of the gushing praise for our batsmen comes when, usually, it only an Indian record falls by the wayside which neither much here nor there.

Next, remember, this comes from a 21st century purveyor of spin who plays all three versions of the game with its hectic international schedule in all conditions and not an, albeit magnificent, 1970/80s fast bowler who sent down his thunderbolts mainly in Test series against England, New Zealand, West Indies and a bit of India/Pakistan. While those given to nostalgia may argue that Lillee had a better quality of batsmen as his victims for precisely that reason, anyone who has played the game will tell you that the stresses of all-the-year-round modern-day cricket and the fitness/skill levels demanded are of different order altogether compared to the 70s and 80s. And the days of tail-enders forfeiting their wickets without a fight went out of fashion ages ago.

Every sphere of life has its romantics, and cricket more than most. So, for every statistics-obsessed cricket fan who will thrill over how it took Ashwin a remarkably few Tests, 54 to be precise, to hit the 300-wickets mark, which is two Tests less than Lillee needed, there will be former cricketers who will insist that Harbhajan Singh was more aggressive as an off spinner or that Bishen Singh Bedi's perfect arc in his bowling action makes Ashwin look clumsy. It doesn't matter. What does, is that one world cricket's records that very few expected to be broken, next perhaps only to Don Bradman's Test average, has fallen to an Indian. As the unassuming man and cricketer put it himself: “It's not easy bowling spin, it looks like you're just ambling up. But there's a lot behind it.” Take a bow, Ashwin.