IPL 2016: Asked about the dew factor at Wankhede stadium, R Ashwin’s answers raise questions

The answer was sparked off because he was angry with the way the journalist phrased the question. This is how the exchange went.

Q: You struggled a bit last time you played here (at Wankhede) on this wicket with the dew?

A: Do you mean with the ball?

Q: Yes with the ball. how do you plan to counter that here?

A: When there was dew, I didn’t bowl, It’s better you ask the question to someone who actually bowled. To be very honest I don’t know how it felt with the dew on. It’s very amusing. Because in the first 12 balls I bowled, I created a wicket-opportunity as well. It’s quite surprising how you phrase your question.

Q: The captain said dew affected.

A: I don’t know what he said.

Here is when the media manager intervened, saying — “excuse me, excuse me, this is about IPL, so let’s stick to that. But the cat was out of the bag ,or wherever it comes out, by then. To understand the context, we have to rewind to the semifinal night at Wankhede when India lost to West Indies. Ashwin was used just for two overs and Dhoni said he was “forced” to use Ravindra Jadeja’s full quota.

Eventually, it was Virat Kohli who bowled the last over. Just before the final over, Ashwin kicked the ground before he went to his fielding spot. Later, Dhoni said he didn’t think of Ashwin at all for the last over. “No, it was not in my mind looking at Russell and the big hitters and the amount of purchase there was on offer. That was not the best time for him to bowl.”

Though Ashwin’s gripe was with the way the question was asked, it still wasn’t a naughty question in the least. The questioner had gone with what Dhoni said the other night, and wanted to know how Ashwin will cope with the dew on Saturday’s game against Mumbai Indians. Ashwin is a skilled bowler who thinks and works a lot on his game, a proud man, and his answer here seems to suggest he wasn’t happy that he was under-used in the semi-final.

In Dhoni’s words

On March 31st, Dhoni explained his choice of giving just two overs to Ashwin in the context of dew. “When they started batting the first few overs were fine, but after that there was a considerable amount of dew, which meant the spinner couldn’t bowl how they would have liked to. It was coming on nicely and the ball was getting wet, so that was the difference between the first innings and second innings, the surface had some assistance for the spinners, it was gripping but in the second innings there wasn’t much in it for them.”

Dhoni even specifically stated that spinners found it difficult, saying, “it was quite evident”. “As the dew comes in it becomes difficult for them to turn the ball. The seam gets wet and the surface becomes a bit greasy so it comes onto the bat nicely. I feel we have seen that our spinners do struggle in conditions like these. If you remember, in one of the T20 World Cups we were knocked out because of one bad game and in that game there was a bit of dew . Or I don’t remember, maybe it was rain that got the ball wet, so that’s where our spinners find it difficult. It was quite evident. Ash only bowled two overs, Jadeja we were forced to bowl the last quota of his overs otherwise he would have only bowled three overs.”

It felt strange to hear Dhoni that night. The two best overs of spin had come from Ashwin. Before he was replaced by Ravindra Jadeja, who bowled the 10th and the 12th over. Around the 10th over mark, the fielders were wiping the ball after the end of overs but not nearly every other ball, as we have sometimes seen in the past. In the 12 balls, he bowled, Ashwin had two bad deliveries; both were short and wide; one was hit for four and other produced a catch but it was a no ball.

The two best overs of spin had come from Ashwin. Johnson Charles hit a six off him but it was a pretty decent delivery that had beat him in flight but he just about managed to swing through the line.

Off the rest, Ashwin turned a couple and generally kept the batsmen quiet. Even off his last delivery, he was quick to respond to the charge down the track by Lendl Simmons, who had to come up with a hurried slice to make contact with the ball. That was the last delivery Ashwin bowled that night.

The no-ball question- Ashwin had taken a wicket off a no ball – too came up at the press conference yesterday. How he handled the accusations after the no ball. “The day I went back home, my dog had a heat stroke. He had fits. It just showed me w hat’s more important and what is very very important in life. I didn’t turn a piece of paper for next three days. I don’t know what’s been said. There have been good-enough journalists, and knowledgeable people who called me and said, I haven’t’ bowled a no ball in ages. .to have bowled one no ball I don’t become a villain! If that’s the perception, I don’t know how to counter that.” And he smiled.

At the end of the press conference, he once again had a word with the journalist who asked him the dew question – asked him where he worked and told him he can’t phrase his question in that way, reiterated that he doesn’t know what Dhoni said other night- and walked away.

He soon joined the nets and started to bowl. Not long after, Dhoni came to bat against him. Ashwin bowled a series of turning off breaks and even slipped in a leg break. All seemed well with his world. Incidentally, it was hot and there was no dew.