His shirt is too big for him.
This isn't a metaphor. It is a statement of fact. The first time R Ashwin made it to our television screens was in the IPL, for the Chennai Super Kings. He was 22 at the time, but looked barely 18 or 19 as his shirt sleeves hung off the ends of his wiry shoulders, flapping in the breeze.
It has been more than 15 years since. The youthful clean-shaven look has been replaced by a scraggly, weather-beaten beard with streaks of white in it. The wicket tally has grown exponentially, and he looks eight feet tall on most days, almost a reflection of his stature within the sport. Both physically and metaphorically, Ashwin has grown into every cricketing shirt he has put on.
There are no words left to praise him that haven't already been said. Wicket after wicket, birthday after birthday, landmark after landmark, the acclaim builds, the compliments multiply, the tributes pour forth and the legend grows.
As if there wasn't enough written in praise of him, there's nothing left to find out either. Between his forthright nature, his YouTube channel, his autobiography, the interviews after each milestone and every award, you could probably chart a comprehensive history of his life, right down to which exam seat he occupied during the second semester of his engineering days.
Ashwin the bowler is shrouded in mystery; Ashwin the man is anything but.
He will start his second century of Test matches at his home ground of Chepauk, two days after his 38th birthday. He may not be part of another home Test summer, if India decide to press the reset button after this World Test Championship cycle. And so the problem is this – what the heck do we say now?
Also read: Ravichandran Ashwin might be the last great off-spinner from India
***
Writer's block is a funny thing. It can put up the stoutest defense to the flow of ideas for the longest time, but once the proverbial dam bursts, it seems silly that there was anything in the way at all. It's really similar to coming up against a batter that refuses to leave the batting crease, no matter how hard a bowler tries.
There is something identifiable in Ashwin for the writer. We in the business are all Ashwins in our own way – plotting, planning, scheming, devising, frustrating, breaking through. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes you nail it from the very start and other times you need a long while to find the right length.
This is not a tribute to Ashwin, at least not in the traditional sense. Rather, it is an attempt to preserve his methods, in the most practical of ways.
When the writer gets down to their task, the goal is simple – to hit their brief, whatever and however that may be. For a bowler, it is the same; get the batter out, whoever and however that may be. The starting points for both are also the same; the bowler needs to start from what they know, i.e. hitting a good line and length. The writer needs to start from what they know, putting together the background and context of their piece.
An impressive spell from Anshul Kamboj 👏#AnshulKamboj #India #Cricket #DullepTrophy pic.twitter.com/Bk4XeQx7Rn
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) September 15, 2024
This looks good for a while. Nothing is out of hand, nothing is wrong as such. But also, nothing is really happening. The bowler senses this when the batter is comfortable dead-batting and stymieing their progress. The writer has a similar train of thought when the piece they start to deliver sounds a bit too much like the last fifty they wrote. There's an uneasiness in the air. But if you have watched Ashwin closely you know your next step is a recalibration.
It's too easy for the batter to just keep this out. Nothing's happening. I need to change the angle. Let's go round the wicket, get a leg slip in.
It's too bland to package Ashwin's records in nice prose. Nothing's new. I need to change the angle. Let's make it meta, make them think.
This doesn't always yield immediate results, but often you can start to see things happening. An edge here, a miss there. A sentence here and a phrase there. Gradually, like Ashwin sees a dismissal forming in his mind's eye, the writer sees a germ of an idea of a fully formed piece.
But still, no reward yet. No matter. Now that you have started to make things happen, you have more of a handle on them. And when you have control, you can vary, you can surprise, you can excite.
I can throw in one ball that spins the opposite way.
I can throw in my line of thought, verbatim.
The longer the spell goes on, the more you can feel the grip tighten. You know that you're stretching your opponent to breaking point. You settle into a rhythm, and your fingers start to just do the job for you as your mind begins to whir; leather is the instrument in one case and plastic in the other.
Five on a length, one to grip from fuller. Go quicker next over. You're using your feet? I'll drop it short. Here's one attacking the pad.
Link these two ideas with an example. Shorten this paragraph. Lengthen that. Let's try a different word next time.
The breakthrough can come at any point. Sometimes it is exactly how you imagined it, but other times totally unexpected. You could hit upon something along the way, or all your meticulous planning could come to fruition.
When that happens, the joy is one. In that moment, there is no distinction between the bowler, the writer or whoever else has set out to achieve a goal with a singular mind.
***
Ashwin has been called everything under the sun throughout his career. Overthinker, (mad) scientist, physicist, 5-D chess master and more. These are all signifiers of respect for the cerebral nature of his cricket, and are not always inaccurate.
But there is often a false opposition created between an intellectual nature and a creative one. What Ashwin employs is not simply cold, unfeeling logic as implied by a couple of the above labels. At his core, he is a master creator, primarily of wickets (secondarily, of online content).
Because Ashwin is a creator, he naturally has a creative process. A creative process that, if you have been following closely enough, warrants more than just compliments and platitudes. It deserves recognition at another level. It deserves implementation – not just in cricket, but in any creative endeavour.
It's unique because it is translatable – across fields and across levels. Ashwin has limitations, like everyone else does. But his process relies on the maximisation of what is available in order to realise potential. That is something we all can relate to.
The reason it's particularly pertinent at this point of time is the sad reality that we may not have much longer with his genius on full display. If you haven't been watching closely, it isn't too late just yet.
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