In the first Test against Sri Lanka, Ravichandran Ashwin was one of India’s star performers. He scored 61 runs with the bat and then followed it up with six wickets across two innings to dismantle Sri Lanka and ensure an innings win for India in Mohali. With the help of the six wickets, Ashwin was able to get past Kapil Dev’s landmark of 434 Test wickets and is currently the second highest wicket-taker for India in this format behind Anil Kumble.

During a discussion with Star Sports, former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar was asked about his experience of working with Ashwin to which he replied that the all-rounder constantly thinks about his game.

“He continuously thinks about his bowling. Mostly my discussions with him have not been about bowling but about batting. My biggest challenge with R Ashwin was that he came into every series with a different thinking or doing something different and then to get him back to his former self.”

Talking about Ashwin’s wonderful performance in Mohali, Bangar mentioned that the off-spinner has reverted back to his old action which did the job for him.

“If we see the last two years, there was a time in between when he tried to bowl a lot with a front-on action, he had to use his body a lot more that time but here he was bowling absolutely side-on, the loading position was good, the way he started his career,” Bangar added.

Ravi Ashwin is known for constantly trying to add new elements to his bowling arsenal. He always seems to tinker and change his approach and he has also attracted criticism from some experts for not relying on his conventional off-spin deliveries enough.

Sanjay Bangar praised Ashwin for relying on his stock off-spinning delivery more during the first Test against Sri Lanka.

“He relied more on his stock delivery and took the maximum wickets with that, he didn’t use the carrom ball or leg-spin much in this Test match. The more he relies on his conventional stock ball, he becomes all the more dangerous and causes a lot of problems for the batters.”

Bangar concluded by mentioning that if Ashwin continues in the same manner, it will be extremely hard for any batter to face him.

“I feel if he continues bowling like this, it will be very difficult to bat against him and to score runs off his bowling.”