Chennai : It wasn’t very long ago bowling coach Sunil Subramanian lashed out at his ward R Ashwin for his lacklustre show in South Africa. Sunil had felt Ashwin “lost his way a bit” and also criticised his “lack of effort”. The coach’s tirade in an interview suggested that the two were no longer working together.
After being dropped for both the Tests against New Zealand, Ashwin, looking desperate to turn hisfortunes around, changed his action against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup which drew further flak from critics. When things seemed to be going awry for the 27 year old, the World T20 came as a godsend, helping him rediscover the magic.
Ashwin emeregd the most successful bowler in the tournament with 11 wickets in six matches and Sunil seems to have an hand in Ashwin’s resurrection.
It’s still a mystery how they joined hands again, all Sunil could reveal was that “he worked in the nets for a day” with the off spinner after the New Zealand tour.
Analysing Ashwin’s action, Sunil found out that he was not using his body while delivering the ball. “While he was not playing the Tests in New Zealand, Ashwin worked on his action. He put more emphasis on using his trunk portion of the body,” Sunil said.
“Now in Bangladesh, he is making optimum use of his hip drive and it is reaping him rich rewards. The position of his feet at the point of release weren’t perfect and a slight change has made a huge difference,” he added. Sunil said the ‘Narine style of bowling’ which Ashwin executed during the Asia Cup would always get the ball fuller at the batsmen. “Now you could see the arc and the dip. It’s working wonders for him. He has always had the mental toughness to bounce back,” he added.
