World Cup: The Ashwin riddle

Why is MS Dhoni playing leggie Piyush Chawla and not the off-spinner R Ashwin? unravels the pros and cons...

THE TEAM MANAGEMENT'S POINT

Piyush Chawla was unimpressive on a flat track in the game against England but MS Dhoni has persisted with him because he felt the player needed a few more games to get his confidence going. If Chawla's efficacy improves, he might offer the regular leg-spinning option on these tracks that Dhoni craves. Chawla was bowling with a lot of freedom today. Sometimes a player needs a game more than a game needs a player. Piyush needed this game more than Ashwin as he is under a lot of pressure.

— MS Dhoni after the game against The Netherlands

Dhoni might be waiting to unleash Ashwin in a crunch game to surprise opponents. That's not a bad strategy given that Dhoni has faith in Ashwin's mental strength and ability to rise to the occasion. He has also had a decent look at teammate Ashwin's capabilities in the IPL, where Dhoni used him brilliantly, often with the new ball and at other times during the Powerplay too. Ashwin can be both an attacking option and a restraining one. He (Ashwin) deserves a chance. He is mentally tough and it's good to have someone in the reserves who is mentally stable.

— MS Dhoni on whether Ashwin would be played

THE COUNTERPOINT

The cricketing logic mooted for not playing Ashwin is that Dhoni has too many off-spinning options already in spin mainstay Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan. There's also the effective orthodox left-arm spin of Yuvraj Singh.

Chawla offers a unique leg-spinning option as he can take the ball away from the right-handers and also has a deceptive googly. With most teams looking to play out Harbhajan and attack Chawla, he might pick up a few wickets too. But Dhoni never had a problem partnering Ashwin with another offie, Muralitharan, in the IPL. So why now? The argument that a young player needs to be persisted with after a bad game appears to be flawed given this is the World Cup. By that logic, shouldn't Sreesanth also have been persisted with after a poor outing against Bangladesh?


The Indian bowling needs to be more effective and it is imperative that all combinations are tried out before the tournament enters the knockout stages. Also, Dhoni needs to play his best bowlers. In the seam department, won't India play both left-arm pacers in Zaheer and Nehra if they are fit and in top form? So why the reluctance to play two offies in Ashwin and Harbhajan?

Read More

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/cricket-world-cup-2011/news/World-Cup-The-Ashwin-riddle/articleshow/7676891.cms