Indian Cricket Team - Will it be fair to consider Ashwin as an all rounder?

Surprise Surprise! It’s not Kallis, not Shakib al Hassan, but Ravichandran Ashwin on top of the ICC’s rankings for Test all-rounders, the first time he has reached No. 1. The lanky spin bowler’s century against West Indies has propelled him to the top position sparking off debate whether he can be considered as a genuine all-rounder. After all, he is the fastest to reach 100 wickets and 1000 runs in Test Cricket, overtaking legends like Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev and Imran Khan. So is it time when people start taking Ashwin seriously as an all-rounder?

Ashwin was an opening batsman when he first started cricket. He is a calm, monk-like character taking one delivery at a time with a technique that is comforting to the eyes of Test match romantics. With an array of shots in his armoury, he has al that it takes to be a top all-rounder. Let’s look at the statistics. After just 18 matches and 24 innings, he has scored 770 runs (at an average of 40.52) and taken 104 Test wickets (average, 27.47). If we compare his figures with those of all-time great all-rounders at the corresponding stage of their careers, Garry Sobers (1221 runs, 21 wickets), Botham (791, 87) and Jacques Kallis (741, 22) have scored more runs. In terms of wickets, however, Ashwin is ahead of the aforementioned trio as well as Kapil Dev (698, 58), Imran Khan (554, 70) and Richard Hadlee (617, 61) Ashwin now boasts of as many tons as Hadlee scored in his 86-match career. Comparing Ashwin to his contemporaries, Raina has batted in 29 innings, never lower than number seven, for only 768 runs and 1 century. Yuvraj Singh has only 1 more with 3 centuries. Ashwin’s counterpart, Ravindra Jadeja has scored just 97 runs in six Test-match innings.

And that precisely is the reason why I feel Ashwin should not be regarded as an all-rounder. Look at the previous players who showed similar promises with bat and ball and were quickly hailed by India as our answer to the much needed all-rounder. Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, all were touted to be fill that vacant all-rounder spot after a brief run of form with the bat. More appropriate are the examples of Agarkar and Irfan. With some good displays with the bat, Pathan started getting used as a floater. A considerate amount of focus was put on his batting. With that, his bowling suffered, which was his strongest point. With this clash of interest, Irfan neither remained a potent bowler, nor a threatening batsman. In fact,every time a bowler who showedd decent abilities with the bat was spoken of as a potential all-rounder, the pressure to perform with bat and ball increased leading to downfall.

Hence, it is wiser to let Ashwin be. India anyway has Jadeja, who is most certainly has a sure spot in all 3 formats of the game. So, there is no need for another all-rounder at the moment. Sensible thing would be to stick to what is happening currently, and take Ashwin’s runs as a bonus and let him play his natural cricket without any added pressure to perform. Why burden him with extra responsibilities which might hamper his bowling, which is so very vital for India. Yes, he has immense potential to be a genuine all-rounder but it also can be argued that Ashwin still has a long way to go to establish him as a top all-rounder. For this he needs to perform consistently overseas against top Test sides like South Africa, England and Australia. Hence, Ashwin should not be considered as an all-rounder yet despite brilliant performances with the bat