RAJKOT: Throwing rich accolades on Ravichandran Ashwin, who scaled Mt 500 at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, former England off-spinner Graeme Swann, here as a commentator for the last three Tests of the India-England series, said that Ashwin "is a student of the game… like a professor of spin bowling."
"It's very difficult for people but not Ashwin. His character demands that. He is a student of the game… like a professor of spin bowling," Swann said, complimenting Ashwin's willingness to keep upgrading his bowling and trying new things.
Sharing his thoughts on Ashwin's unique milestone, Swann, who took 255 Test wickets @29.96, told the reporters here, "It was going to come in this Test match, probably fitting that it was the first wicket to fall. Just when India needed that breakthrough, he is the man who got it. I have got to take my hat off to him. It is brilliant to see, especially a finger spinner to get to 500 Test wickets. I have always been a huge fan of his bowling. To get to 500 Test wickets in less than 100 Tests is a massive thing."
Praising Ashwin's ability to work out the batsmen's weaknesses quickly, Swann said, "I have watched a lot of him on TV. Especially whenever they played Australia. He always had a very clever way when it wasn't going for him. He was very quick to go over the wicket to the left-handers and worked out how to bowl people around their legs, and things like that. I think it's very easy to bowl when there's turn… keep plugging away thinking a wicket will come. He has never been happy with that. He has always looked to force a wicket, which is why he has got so many of them."
Like Ashwin, who made his Test debut at 25, Swann too was a latecomer, having played his first Test when he was 29. "That's a huge thing (taking Test 500 wickets despite starting late). To be fair, if you start playing a bit late you have a bit of advantage. You have played more cricket by that stage. You have learnt your craft more. I find the guys who had to learn on the job had a disadvantage. Ashwin actually benefited from that (debuting at 25). By the time he played, he was ready for it," Swann said.
The 44-year-old also gave full marks to Ashwin for an off-spinner with a clean action, though he wasn't too happy with the 37-year-old's attempts to try leg spin a few years back.
"Ashwin has got the cleanest action since me," Swann said with a grin, before saying: I am always bemused at the fact that I retired from cricket because of a bad elbow, I never bent that. He has never been questioned because he always bowls with shorter sleeves and doesn't bend it. The only thing against Ashwin is when he tried bowling leg-spin. That wasn't right. He would probably do it again just to annoy me (laughs). But nearly everything he tries works and credit to him."
