- May 8, 2025
Let’s face it: it’s like ordering a premium bottle of vintage wine at a fast food picnic, while watching R Ashwin bowl in a T20 match. It’s classy, classy, and classy, but sometimes it just doesn’t pair well. In a landscape dominated by mystery spinners and bowlers who can deliver the ball at 150kph without any shame, is Ashwin still relevant in the madness of the IPL’s bat-for-six era? That’s the question Extension shedding light on Ashwin’s value in T20 cricket, which seems to be what value he provides, and not his raw stats.
Matchups Matter: Ashwin Is Still Gold (When Used Right)
Mukund was reasonably candid — Ashwin may not be the quick go-to against the power-hitting left-handers anymore, and that’s ok. “He’s a control bowler,” he said, flashing back to how Ashwin excels against right-handers, not swashbuckling southpaws. Look at this IPL season. Against CSK and Punjab, he went for runs to everyone, and especially Priyansh Arya and Nitesh Rana, both left-handers who didn’t get the report about Ashwin’s reputation.
The clutch situation with Rahane and Pandey, who are both right-handed batsmen, seemed to energize Ashwin like a quick shot of coffee, because he produced the most controlled rate, was disciplined, and reminded the world of what he can do. Ashwin situationally bowled even better now. You can’t think like a Test match in T20, the matchups in the IPL are chess moves, and if you could use him right, Ashwin is still one of your smartest pieces on the board from a match-up perspective.
Timing Is Everything: The Power of Over Management
This is the exciting part of the conversation. Mukund was thinking, Why is Ashwin bowling the 7th over—a relatively easier phase of the innings—when Rahane and Pandey were comfortably batting till the 12th or 13th? The approach was passive instead of Ashwin being used as a strategic weapon that lets KKR off the hook. That over went for only three runs, emphasizing that it was a missed opportunity.
This illustrates how some franchises think incorrectly about the value of experienced bowlers. Ashwin is not simply putting the ball in his hand and forgetting about it, he must be deployed intentionally. If you are making the plan to use him as a regular spinner, then you will get regular results. However, if you time his waves of spells and choose his opponents wisely, he is capable of flipping a match upside down.
It’s Not About Pace, It’s About Purpose
The present-day T20 game loves pace, flair, and funky deliveries. But Ashwin has no intention of following any trend. He aims to outthink the batters. Mukund’s analysis highlights that Ashwin is not worth anything naked, but that he is of worth because he is a cricketer. One over for 14 against Narine, and then three overs for 19—it is not that Ashwin is ineffective, it is because he needs to be supported by smart planning.
Teams that understand this will see a return from Ashwin. The teams that don’t? They’ll keep their heads scratching when he gets belted. It’s not about reinventing Ashwin, it’s about resetting your approach to the way he continues to operate successfully, with deception, control, and cunning bowling brains.
Abhinav Mukund’s thoughts are a wake-up call for franchises: Ashwin isn’t obsolete, he’s just underutilized! Cricket is not all about big hits or flat-out pace, it’s sometimes about the spells so silent nobody notices and momentum flips. And on that point, here’s food for thought. In a format that evolves every season, is it better that we have more bowlers reinventing themselves or more intelligent work from captains to get the most out of their bowlers?
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