CHENNAI: When Ravichandran Ashwin made his debut for an age-group Tamil Nadu team many moons ago, he did so as a batter who could bowl a bit. Years have gone by, the teenager of yesterday is in the twilight of a brilliant international career as an off-spinner, but his first love, batting, hasn't left him.
Ashwin's as yet unbeaten 102 off 112 balls is his sixth century, but this one is different in many ways. At 144 for six in the first innings, India were in the dumps, and the game that Ashwin brought to the fore isn't something that we are used to.
