Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin picked 587 wickets in Tests as bowling pair.
Former India spinner R Ashwin has spoken about feeling jealous of his former spin bowling partner Ravindra Jadeja, saying that the Saurashtra bowler ‘absolutely didn’t know how to take wickets’. He also explained how Jadeja’s limitations made him dangerous for the batters and how it helped Ashwin from the other end.
Ashwin praised Jadeja for his ‘natural’ skill and talent but revealed that the pacer got wickets only because the batters erred against his repetitive bowling.
Ashwin and Jadeja have been recognized as one of the best bowling combinations in cricket. Together they took 587 wickets in 58 Test matches, with 317 taken by Ashwin and 270 taken by Jadeja.
Ashwin revealed that the primary reason behind their success was due to their complementary strengths.
“I know his limitations well. Very few can bring him out of those limitations. I was one of them. His biggest strength: being naturally gifted. If he has a bad day, you just tell him your effort is fine; tomorrow will be better. His action was simple, the release point simple, and the tappa so good—he doesn’t have to think.
He didn’t know how to dismiss batsmen—I’m saying he absolutely didn’t know. But his skill to choke batsmen was intertwined with his skill. You can’t sweep him—trajectory is low. You can’t step out—airspeed is good. You can’t play defense without doubting if the ball would remain the same,” Ashwin said on the Baith & Bol podcast with Aakash Chopra.
Ashwin also talked about Jadeja’s reluctance to give flight to his deliveries, even when conditions demanded such a type of bowling. Ashwin explained that although he had tried to bring about a change, his attempts always ended up with Jadeja conceding runs.
But Ashwin understood that Jadeja's frugality helped him play from the other side and get wickets, which eventually made Jadeja even more challenging to face.
“When I understood that, my respect for Jadeja doubled—what he does is not easy. I have seen many skillful spinners, but the repetitive nature of keeping the ball there at the same speed is very difficult. Spinning the ball at that speed is not easy," he said.
Ashwin also admitted that though he was not jealous of Jadeja’s success, he did feel envious about his natural skills.
When Chopra asked him to explain, Ashwin said, "A person who doesn’t experiment in the nets, but if you give him the ball, he’ll land on tappa, good speed, rotation, take catches in the field, run like a bullet, move like silk, connect every second direct hit, have every batting shot, power, skill, and defense against spinners, and be developed against fast bowlers and score 300 in the Ranji Trophy. " It was all natural! However much we’d work hard to get close to him, his skill was still bigger. I often thought if I had that skill, I’d rule the world. But it is what it is. He was so skillful that he didn’t have to think much."
Ravindra Jadeja is likely to be in action for India when they play New Zealand in a two-Test series starting November 19.