Ravichandran Ashwin: Turning it square

An aggressive Virat Kohli shouldering the responsibility of a team in transition for the first time on home soil, and marshalling his troops to register an emphatic series win over the Proteas. Ravichandran Ashwin catalysing a historic win, spinning a menacing web around the South African batsmen. There was little that went wrong for India in their thumping series win over South Africa. Annihilating the top Test side in the world and that too, with such ease, Kohli and his boys deserve much more than just a pat on their backs.

Kohli led the team with vigour, exhibiting maturity beyond his years. Steady showings with both bat and ball - this was the kind of performance that will augur well for the Indian Test side in the future. But was this just a case of a bunch of talented players playing cohesively or was there an external factor at work?

The nature of pitches seen in the Test series left several cricketing pundits baffled. Pitches in the sub-continent are known for their turn and uneven bounce. It is common to see curators prepare pitches that assist the home side. However, it's upto the players, and not the curators, to make good use of the pitch.

India wrapped up emphatic wins in the first two matches in just three days, raising serious questions about the pitches that were laid out to assist the Indian spin attack. Both in Mohali and Nagpur, the ball started turning right from the opening session of the match. On Indian pitches, the ball generally starts misbehaving only from day three.

However, in this series, the pitch started playing tricks from day one itself.

It was not only the touring batsmen who fell prey to the ominous rank turners, the Indian batsmen too danced to the tunes of the spinning SG ball, as they were restricted to paltry scores by an inexperienced but disciplined South African spin attack. The likes of Imran Tahir, Dean Elgar and Dane Peidt seldom allowed the Indian batsmen to dictate terms - the fourth test in Delhi being a welcome change.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) termed the pitch used for the Nagpur Test as "poor" and issued a notification to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). BCCI has a fortnight to reply. The pitches also drew flak from former and current players alike, including former England skipper Michael Vaughan and Glenn Maxwell. Ashwin even got into a Twitter spat with former Aussie spinner Brad Hogg over the latter's comments on the undue advantage being offered to the Indian spinners.

Pitches offering assistance to the home team has been a long debate. But this should not make the the performances of the Indian spinners any less impressive. The Indian spin attack picked up 61 wickets during the course of the series. Ashwin was the pick of the lot, bagging an astounding 31 wickets at a brilliant strike rate of 31.8 in the series.

Ashwin, for long, has been India's number one spinner. But what he showed against South Africa was his ability to win matches on his own, a quality that the three great spinners of the last two decades - Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Anil Kumble - possessed in abundance.

What made this trinity stand out was its ability to pick up wickets away from home. Whether it was Warne's "Ball of the Century" that got the better of Mike Gatting on a misty afternoon at Old Trafford in 1993 or Kumble, playing with a broken jaw, outsmarting Brian Lara in Antigua in 2002.

Ashwin's away record paints a dismal picture; a complete contrast to his match-winning performances at home. Since his debut in 2011, he has only 50 wickets to his name in 13 Tests while bowling away from home. In matches overseas, there is an over-dependence on Ashwin to deliver the goods. That perhaps explains why he has felt the pressure so much. There is little doubt that Ashwin is good but does he have it in him to become great? For him to make that leap, he needs to start performing on tracks that aren't as helpful as the ones he is used to at home. Age is clearly not on the 29-year-old's side. The clock is ticking.