Dubai: Taking a dig at some experts having reservations on his selection in the World Cup squad, Ashwin on Thursday hinted that their understanding of his bowling is archaic and feels sorry for them.
“For a lot of people who are giving expert opinions on the game, I sometimes feel sorry for them. I have been playing this format since 2007-8, and every two years, the game leaves our realms and it teaches us something because the game is so fast-paced,” he said on the eve of the India-Scotland match here.
He was referring to the criticism he faced by expert commentators saying his selection in the World Cup bewilders them as he is a bit of a defensive bowler in the shortest format of cricket.
“I feel the understanding of the game is still backward in so many ways. For me when you say a bowler has to pick wickets, for fast bowlers there are different plans and for spinners, there are different plans.
“There are different lengths that you cannot afford to bowl as you do in a Test match. Wicket-taking is not something that just happens. Experts say that the game is about partnerships. Every time a bowler is picking wickets, there is an over that was bowled well before,” Ashwin said.
On the four years hiatus, Ashwin said he has used this period to hone his skill with an intent to change the perception around finger spin.
“I have evolved as a T20 bowler … I have got so many more options than what I had in 2017. When I bowl to a right-hander, I think like a left-arm spinner or a leg spinner, and when I bowl to a left-hander, I think like an offspinner. The thinking creates intent and intent translates into practice. There is a lot of work that has gone on there, it’s just that the consensus on what I do needs to change.”
“I have bowled many more deliveries that are so subtle that people keep terming them as carrom balls, off-spin and arm balls. I am trying to create different angles to create different seam positions. The ball to dismiss Gulbadin Naib was anything but a carrom ball,” he said.
