At the 2011 Cricket World Cup, R Ashwin was no more than a fringe player, turning out in just two of India’s nine matches. The off-spinner from Chennai played second fiddle to the more experienced Harbhajan Singh, who played in all of his country’s games, including the historic final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai.
A little over two years later, Ashwin had become skipper MS Dhoni’s go-to man. In a truncated final of the 2013 Champions Trophy in Birmingham, Dhoni turned to his No. 1 spinner with England needing 15 runs for victory off the last over. Ashwin conceded just nine to the ninth-wicket pair of James Tredwell and Stuart Broad as India trooped out victors by five runs.
