The no ball that changed the match
It’s a small number in the 960 balls he has sent down; but the occasion and India’s defeat has shown him in poor light.
Usually Ravichandran Ashwin is in the news for good reasons; for bagging wickets, on occasions for demonstrating technically correct batsmanship and on many occasions for his critical observations during interactions with the media. But from Thursday’s ICC World Twenty20 semifinal tussle against the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium that India lost, the tall off spinner has been in the limelight for sour and irksome reasons; he has come under some covert and overt attack from the followers of the game on social media and even former India captains for a violating a law of the game, which some believe was responsible for India’s elimination from the final.
Ashwin will have to live with this blot, that’s now being dubbed the “calamity moment of the match’’ for India – the 41st ball of the West Indies innings that was declared illegal for over stepping the popping crease and a mistake which gave Lendl Simmons a chance to take guard again and proceed to play a match-winning knock.
It was Ashwin’s fourth front-foot no ball in 43 Twenty20 matches and second in ICC World Twenty20 matches. Sometimes, luck can be cruel; on the latest occasion, India lost the match, whereas on the previous three occasions, India won.
Lendl Simmons got the benefit of another front-foot no ball from medium pacer Hardik Pandya; and what a coincidence that the catch was taken at cover by Ashwin who himself had been penalised for breaching Law 24 (5b). The difference though was that Lendl was batting on 18, the West Indies total was 49 for 2 when Ashwin committed a mistake and the right hander was on 50 when Pandya overstepped by a long way and when the West Indies total was 131 for 3.
Law 24 (5) – Fair delivery (the feet) says: “For a delivery to be fair in respect of the feet, in the delivery stride (a) the bowler’s back foot must land within and not touching the return crease appertaining to his stated mode of delivery (b) the bowler’s front foot must land with some part of the foot, whether grounded or raised (i) on the same side of the imaginary line joining the two middle stumps as the return crease described in (a) above and (ii) behind the popping crease.’’ The law further explains that “If the bowler’s end umpire is not satisfied that all of these three conditions have been met, he shall call and signal No ball.’’
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has gone to the extent of saying that a spinner bowling a no-ball is unacceptable. Former England captain Michael Vaughn introduced an element of humour saying: "Really enjoying this Lendl Simmons Benefit match.’’ India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he was disappointed with the two no balls sent down by Ashwin and Pandya.
It was a forgettable day in so far as Ashwin is concerned. On the three previous occasions he bowled a no-ball (4-0-48-1, v Zimbabwe, Harare in June 2010, 4-0-27-1 v South Africa in Colombo in October 2012 in the ICC World Twenty20 and 4-0-26-2 v Sri Lanka, Mirpur in March 2016 in the Asia CupTwenty20) and India had won the matches.
Ashwin bowled the 7th and 9th over in the semifinal and after conceding 20 runs he was not brought again. It was only the third time that he bowled only two overs (2-0-41-0, against Australia at Rajkot in October 2013, 2-0-31-1 at Mohali in the ICC World Twenty20 match on March 27 and 2-0-20-0 against the West Indies at Mumbai in the ICC World Twenty20 semifinal match on March 31). Dhoni said he did not have Ashwin in mind with the two right handers – Simmons and Andre Russell – playing big boundary shots.
There was joy when Jasprit Bumrah, a slack fielder, brought off a miraculous catch at short third man when Simmons back-cut hard, but once the umpire got the confirmation of a no-ball, hopes dissipated.
On occasions bowlers and wicketkeepers together plan to get a batsman stumped with a wide ball, but a front-foot no-ball generally costs the fielding team heavily; a free-hit that either delivers a 4 or 6.
Among spin bowlers, Ashwin’s four no balls in 43 matches (is the second highest behind West Indian off spinner Sunil Narine’s five no balls in 34 matches. It’s a small single-digit number in the 960 balls he has sent down; but the occasion and India’s defeat has shown him in poor light.
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