Ashwin, Jadeja & Axar made the Test their own with match-winning contributions, giving captain Rohit Sharma a happy problem of plenty
Fifty years down the line, when someone sits down to write the history of Indian cricket in the 21st century, there is bound to be a chapter on the spin trio that is ruling this era on home pitches.
While R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are the two superstars with more than 700 Test wickets among them, the third wing of the attack, Axar Patel, is also a big threat.
"The record that Axar has both with the bat and the ball, it is not even a discussion whether he can be kept out of the XI in these conditions," Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour had said on Friday.
Axar might not have had that big an impact with the ball in the first Test, but his bat did the talking as he scored a crucial 84 that took the game away from Australia.
It's a huge plus that all three can bat as well. Ashwin and Jadeja too came up with useful contributions that led to the emphatic victory in Nagpur.
For Rohit, it's a problem of plenty that he is absolutely loving at the moment.
"It's like captaining Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc in Australia. When you have Axar, Jadeja, and Ash playing on pitches like these, it's always a blessing," the skipper said.
1/10:1st Test: Spinners shine as India crush Australia by an innings
Getty Images
2/10:India take 1-0 lead
<p>Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja eviscerated Australia in just over two hours to hand India a crushing innings-and-132-run victory inside three days of the opening Test. The hosts took a commanding first-innings lead of 223, then skittled out Australia for 91 to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.</p>AP
3/10:Australia collapse in one session
<p>Steve Smith was left to survey the ruins on 25 after Ashwin, who took five wickets in the innings and eight in the match, triggered a complete batting collapse inside a single session.<br /></p>AP
4/10:Fifer for Ashwin
<p>Ashwin rattled the opposition batting with his off-spin as he sent back Usman Khawaja (five), David Warner (10) and Matt Renshaw (two).<br /></p>ANI
5/10:Two wickets for Jadeja
<p>Jadeja, who grabbed five in the first innings, took two wickets including Marnus Labuschagne -- Australia's first-innings top-scorer with 49 -- trapped lbw for 17.<br /></p>AFP
6/10:Ashwin runs through Aussie batters
<p>But Ashwin ruled the afternoon to run through the Australian batting, which fell flat on a pitch where India's tail -- including Axar Patel (84) and Mohammed Shami (37) -- scored handsomely in the first session.<br /></p>PTI
7/10:Shami finishes off Aussie innings
<p>Shami bowled Nathan Lyon for the ninth wicket to extend the session and finished the job when he trapped Scott Boland lbw.<br /></p>Getty Images
8/10:Memorable debut for Murphy
<p>Debutant spinner Todd Murphy was the tourists' sole saving grace, adding two more wickets on Saturday morning to return figures of 7-124.<br /></p>Getty Images
9/10:Murphy takes seven-for
<p>Murphy, who on Friday became the youngest Australian spinner to bag five in his first Test, bowled Jadeja for 70 early in the morning session to end an 88-run eighth-wicket partnership with Axar.<br /></p>ANI
10/10:Jadeja falls early on Day 3
<p>Jadeja, a left-hander making his international return from a knee injury, added just four to his overnight 66.<br /></p>ReutersWhile Ashwin has a huge variety, Jadeja can bowl it faster through the air and can get one to turn so much that well-settled batsmen find themselves in a spot. Axar, on the other hand, is similar to Jadeja, but he gets more bounce because of his height and can be as relentless as the Saurashtra player.
"Conditions are there for everyone but what they extract from those make them really special. They have played on these pitches a lot and they know which areas to hit, how to keep applying that pressure," Rohit said, explaining the influence the three had on the Test match.
What makes it even more special is the fact that despite the respect that they have for each other, there is a healthy competition. Even on Saturday, as India were marching towards victory, Ashwin wanted to have his five-wicket haul while Jadeja was keen to complete 250 Test wickets.
Axar, on the other hand, had bowled less and was keen to get among the wickets, making it difficult for Rohit to choose.
"It's a little tough. They are all reaching their milestones. Jadeja was on 249 wickets and he was telling me, ‘mere ko ball de.' Ashwin was on four wickets and he wanted five and that was the challenge I was facing," Rohit said.
Then with three guys performing as well as they did, there's also the question of which end to bring them from. There's often more rough at one end, as was the case in Jamtha, and all three spinners would prefer that. Rohit says it's on him to decide which end suits which bowler, and that's also a challenge it itself.
"The pressure is always on me to find the right end for the right one. It's a challenge and I try and play a little bit of match-up game as well and Ash has good match-up against left handers, while Jadeja and Axar are unbelievable against right handers. So I try and keep those things in mind while rotating them," Rohit added.
Is Ashwin the leader of the pack? "He is closing in on 100 Tests. A lot of cricket and overs have gone into developing the skills. He can bowl that carrom ball, top spin and sliders. He is very studious and likes to understand his game," Rohit said.
