Ravi Ashwin speaks about his massive batting improvement after his magnificent century against Bangladesh in Chennai.
Ravi Ashwin might have hidden his primary skill despite being excellent in the other one.
“Bowling and batting are very separate sports in the same game,” Ashwin said after the second day of the Chennai Test between India and Bangladesh. “One is done consciously. The other one is done subconsciously. So, for me, to compartmentalise both has taken its own due.”
With his 113 off 133 balls, he contributed to the hosts’ 376 first-inning total. Bangladesh was then completely overrun by the bowlers, who bowled them out for 149 and gained near total control of the match.
With the bat in hand, Ashwin needed to be a very different player from the one who went on to become one of the best spinners in history, and he put what he had learnt over the course of a long career into practice as he walked in at 144 for 6.
“At this stage, I am able to sequence that and split both of them and see as a cricketer. So, when I walked there [to bat] the only thing I wanted to do was to settle down my game. The mind can play tricks because I am a bowler who plays on 12, 18, 24 balls ahead when I am sequencing it. As a batter, I shouldn’t do that. I just use my experience when I get in. So, now it’s more about just focusing on the ball and hitting it as I see it.”
Ashwin scored his second century in a row at Chepauk, his home ground, after scoring 106 against England in 2021 under like conditions. It was difficult for him to decide which one he preferred.
“Both. [The England Test] had so much riding on it. We lost the first one and came to the second. Last time when I played at Chennai, I felt like I was making sort of a comeback in more than one way. I was a little here and there. I went to Australia and came back here. That was different and I enjoyed it. I think my batting has come along a lot better since that particular game. I worked quite a lot on how I can maximise my shots, maximise my game. I worked on how I can play fast bowling and all that sort of stuff. I’m glad it’s coming out nicely.”