"Being boring is a fantastic thing in Test cricket" - Aakash Chopra lauds R Ashwin's performances in IND vs BAN 2024 series

Aakash Chopra has lauded Ravichandran Ashwin's performances in the recently-concluded Test series between India and Bangladesh. He pointed out that the off-spinner's persistent bowling in the good length areas yielded him rich dividends.

India swept the series 2-0 after sealing the second Test in Kanpur by seven wickets on Tuesday, October 1. Ashwin was adjudged the Player of the Series for picking up 11 wickets and scoring 114 runs across the two Tests.

During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Aakash Chopra was asked about R Ashwin doing the difficult job of consistently bowling in the right areas throughout the series.

"Ravichandran Ashwin's specialty is this. You need to learn that being boring is a fantastic thing in Test cricket. You need to keep bowling the same thing repeatedly at the same place. This is not a blacksmith's game but a goldsmith's game," he responded.

The former India opener compared Ashwin's bowling to a goldsmith's work.

"A blacksmith hits hard, makes like that and the noise is also very loud, but the goldsmith keeps working on a single area, and then a very nice jewelry piece is created. This is actual bowling of Test cricket, where you keep bowling in one area so that the batter gets troubled and tries something different. We have seen people getting out while doing something different," Chopra explained.

R Ashwin won the Player of the Series award for the 11th time in Tests. It is the joint-most in the longest format, with Muttiah Muralitharan also having received the accolade as many times.

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"You get wickets on balls that fall in the good length area" - Aakash Chopra on R Ashwin's bowling

In the same discussion, Aakash Chopra pointed out that R Ashwin makes life difficult for batters as he does not allow them to play him off the back foot.

"You get wickets on balls that fall in the good length area because you have to mostly go forward to play those deliveries. When the balls can be played off the back foot against spin, it means you have neutralized him (the spinner)," he said.

"If the bowler is pulling you forward, it means he is allowing the ball to remain in the air for some time and pitching it slightly fuller. When you bowl fuller, multiple options get opened up. You have chances of bat-pad, leg-before, and catches," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Chopra highlighted that Ashwin found the ideal lengths in two disparate pitches in Chennai and Kanpur.

"He has also done it on two different pitches. You bowl very differently on black-soil pitches from how you bowl on red-soil pitches because the methods of taking wickets change. You get edges on red-soil pitches and they carry. Here you get more leg-before and bowled because the ball stays slightly low," he explained.

Ashwin went wicketless in the first innings in Chennai but picked up six wickets in the second essay. He accounted for two dismissals in the first innings in Kanpur and followed it up with three scalps in the second outing.