Ravichandran Ashwin now has 700 international wickets but there’s always a sense of ‘what if’ regarding the spinner’s career, writes Sarah Waris.

Ashwin was brought into the attack in the eighth over on day one against the West Indies and struck 17 balls later when he sent back Tagenarine Chanderpaul with a ripper, achieving a rare feat in Test cricket. He went on to add four more to his tally, ending with yet another five-four to extend his legacy and also become only the third India player to 700 international wickets, 479 of which have come in the Test arena.

Ashwin’s performance today at Windsor Park in Dominica will be taken with a pinch of salt by experts, and dare I say former India cricketers as well, some of who have often claimed him to be a conditions-based bowler.

With a five-match cut-off since 2010, Dominica has been the best venue for spinners in West Indies, with tweakers picking up 87 wickets at an average of 23.35 and strike rate of 49. Seamers, on the other hand, have fared the worst here among all pitches in the Windies. It was always a tailor-made pitch for a bowler of Ashwin’s calibre, but for Rohit Sharma to hand over the ball to the off-spinner within ten overs as he persisted with pace from the other end, and only bringing on Ravindra Jadeja in the 26th over, was a testimony to just how brilliant Ashwin was in these conditions.

He stuck to an outside off-stump line to Chanderpaul, with the extra bounce drawing the batter forward. The tactic worked as the opener fell to a classical off-spinner’s dismissal, with the ball narrowly beating the left-hander’s outside edge in Ashwin’s third over of the game.

Two overs later, after teasing Kraigg Brathwaite’s outside edge on a number of occasions, he accounted for the West Indies skipper, who played an ugly hoick across the line to Rohit Sharma at cover. It was a desperate attempt by Brathwaite to score runs against the spinner, who bowled three maidens in his first five overs.

A few hit-and-miss chances followed, with Jermaine Blackwood just about surviving an lbw shout on umpire’s call and then seeing the ball narrowly miss the stumps a few overs later when a quicker delivery beat him as he looked to play a cut.

By the time Jadeja entered the attack, Ashwin had bowled nine overs for 22 runs, bowling more than any of the three seamers and taking both the wickets that fell.

He ended with three more scalps, with the highlight being Alzarri Jospeh’s wicket. Joseph played against the line of the straighter ball, as the carrom ball deceived him completely. In his next over, Ashwin sent back the best batter of the evening, Alick Athanaze, with a seam-up delivery and bagged his 33rd five-wicket haul with a ball that turned and bounced towards Shubman Gill, who held onto a low catch at short leg.

West Indies were all out for 150, with Ashwin bowling almost 38 per cent of the overs, dominating in Dominica just as he has done in similar conditions in the past.

Nine grounds in SENA [South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia] countries and the West Indies have an average of below 35 for spinners in the last ten years in Test cricket, with Sabina Park in Jamaica just about missing the cut-off, with an average of 35.41. Out of them, India have played at Kingsmead in Durban, the Rose Bowl in Southampton, The Kia Oval in London, in Kingston, the Perth Stadium and Dominica in the last decade.

Ashwin has – believe it or not – played only five Tests of the 12 in the above grounds in the last ten years. When he has, he has excelled, picking up 21 wickets at an average of 22.23 and a strike rate of 48.2, with two five-fors. Jadeja, who has played eight Tests in the above venues, has a strike rate of 60.7. India have lost five of the seven Tests that Ashwin has not played at these grounds.

At the Kia Oval, which has an average of 30.71 for the slower bowlers in the last ten years, Ashwin warmed the bench against Australia last month in the World Test Championship final, which ended meekly for India. It is not to say that the disappointing result could have been averted because cricket is not played on ‘what ifs’. But fielding him sporadically and not basing his selection on past records and the ground conditions have not only hampered India’s record but have arguably robbed Ashwin from adding to his already-rich career.

Ashwin currently has 702 wickets across all formats, becoming the 16th player in the world to the feat with his outing against the West Indies. He has picked up a wicket every 46 balls in his career, the sixth-best strike rate among the bowlers in the illustrious list. Only six bowlers have more five-fors than him and he could end his career with the second-most five-wicket hauls if he takes six more. Among Indians, only Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh have picked up 700 wickets. Harbhajan has 707 wickets.

Now consider the fact that Ashwin has not been a sure starter when India travel overseas. He has not been a regular even when the pitches promise to offer him assistance. The pre-conceived notions about his skills coupled with India’s ploy to use three seamers and a pace bowling all-rounder overseas in recent years have not helped his cause either. But despite the setbacks and the obvious frustration, Ashwin motors on, leaving an emphatic mark, seizing onto the chances when an opportunity is to be seized.

Cricket is really not a game of ‘what ifs’, but his performance on day one makes you wonder how it could have been so much more.