Kings XI Punjab’s R Ashwin shows the worth of having a bowler-captain in cricket

Ravichandran Ashwin seemed like an odd choice for Kings XI Punjab even as a player when the franchise picked him up in the auction.

Yes, Indian Premier League teams have never really cared too much for home allegiances as far as picking players is concerned – MS Dhoni, a pukka Jharkhand lad, has been the adopted son of Chennai these last 10 years – but Ashwin playing for Punjab still seemed a bit too odd.

And then, the Tam-Brahm Ashwin was made captain of the Kings XI Punjab. Even if you leave aside his ethnicity, Ashwin has never really come close to captaining India so far in his long international career. It was a bold choice by the Kings XI management, considering he had missed the last IPL season with injury and has been filtered out of India’s limited-overs teams in the past year.

As the rest of the franchises announced their captains, it turned out that Ashwin was also the only bowler leading a team as the season began. But if anyone had any doubts over the decision, nine matches into the season nobody can deny that it was a brilliant choice.

One of the first things that Ashwin said when he was made captain was that he wanted to build a good team culture and not focus too much on results in a format that is often called a lottery. “For me, it’s the environment you are able to create,” he had told Mint in an interview earlier this season.

“People should be happy and smiling every time they go for practice. We want to make some great friends, and then, hopefully, on the way, win a few trophies,” he had added.

Trusting his bowlers

One of the standout characteristics of Ashwin’s captaincy this season has been the trust he has shown in his bowlers, if not batsmen. Whether it is the young Mujeeb Ur Rahman or Andrew Tye, Ashwin has resisted the urge to drop his bowlers after matches in which they went for a run too many.

Case in point: young Mujeeb went for 37 runs in Punjab’s loss to Mumbai Indians on Friday and has even been quite terrible in the field so far, but Ashwin persisted with the Afghan in the match against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. Mujeeb repaid his captain’s faith with a Man-of-the-Match-winning performance, taking 3/27.

“I think bowlers will get hit in this format,” Ashwin said after the match. “The ones who let me down will win me the game tomorrow. That is the only perspective I came with into this tournament and thankfully all of them are going well.”

Being a bowler himself, and one of the most experienced ones in the Punjab attack, Ashwin has always had his thinking cap on. Tye, one of the standout performers with the ball for Punjab this season, had mentioned how Ashwin gave his bowlers mini-targets while bowling in the death overs.

The 31-year-old has also used his bowlers well, according to the opposition and the situation. Young fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot has been asked to bowl four overs straight at the beginning of one match, while in others he has been preserved for the second half. Ashwin also hasn’t been afraid to attack with two slips early on in the innings when required.

Under Ashwin’s reign, Kings XI Punjab have emerged as one of the best and most balanced bowling attacks this season, perhaps second only to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Ashwin even admitted that all of Punjab’s 12 points accumulated so far this season have been down to his team’s bowlers. This has also allowed him to experiment with his team combination.

“That’s really pleasing because we know that one department is firing on all cylinders and we’ve got options – we can get in a few Indian seamers and play a foreign batter,” he said.

Taking big calls

Ashwin has tried and tested Indian seamers Mohit Sharma, Barinder Sran and Ankit Rajpoot, with the latter being his most preferred choice of late, alongside the reliable Tye. Kings XI have also played three specialist spinners in a few matches. Axar Patel, Mujeeb and Ashwin bowled seven out of the first eight overs against Rajasthan on Sunday and were crucial in restricting them to a below-par 152/9.

That isn’t to say Ashwin has been less efficient when it comes to his team’s batting selections. He’s taken some big calls such as benching David Miller, Yuvraj Singh and Aaron Finch. He’s gone for form over reputation. He has utilised the destructive but ageing Chris Gayle well, giving the big man rest whenever required.

Ashwin has made quite a few unconventional choices this season, whether it is at the toss or in his decisions on the field, and most of them have worked. As a spin bowler, with the physical demands not being as strenuous as those of a pacer, Ashwin has had the time to think as captain, even though he said that most of his decisions have been taken on the spur of the moment.

“I was not looking to do anything special,” he said, of his captaincy. “I was just trying to gauge the situation, gauge the team and try use them in the best possible manner on the field. Mostly the captain’s job is rotating the bowlers and try to pick the best combination, and as an extension to get the batting order precise when you are sitting in the dugout. So, for me, it’s been coming in without any expectations and taking the call on the moment.”

Some of the greatest ever captains in international cricket have been bowlers: Richie Benaud, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, to name a few. It is highly unlikely that Ashwin will be added to that category but he wouldn’t really mind that. Kings XI Punjab certainly won’t, as they look set to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

Kings XI are by no means a finished product and neither have they looked like the best outfit this season. But with five matches still to go before the playoffs, Ashwin and Co have got a lot of time to iron out the chinks ahead of the final push to the summit.