Ashwin & Jadeja: When the supermen were swept

India are in trouble. The Bangladesh seamers had knocked over their top order in a way we hadn’t seen since Mustafizur Rahman's debut ODI series in 2015. With only 144 runs on the board, they had lost six wickets. After a series win in Pakistan, Bangladesh had an incredible start in Chennai. 

But this was when R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja came together. They were just one short of a 200 run partnership, with Ashwin scoring a hundred and Jadeja making 86. For the rest of the series, they did most of their best work with the ball, combining for 20 wickets while averaging 17.6. That included the Test in Kanpur, where India won in barely two days of play after rain. In the third innings that broke the game open, Ashwin and Jadeja took six of the wickets.

They won two Tests from nowhere. It didn’t matter what their side was doing, as long as they were in it. With bat, with ball, they did every job. Supermen, that an impenetrable fortress was built on. 

But even though Jadeja took his third ten-wicket haul and Ashwin spun a carrom ball sideways in the third Test against New Zealand, age remains undefeated in sport. Ashwin is 38, while Jadeja is turning 36 in December.

And the series loss against New Zealand was not just a normal one for India. It was a humiliating defeat at home against a team they were expected to win. The two players who have been saving India with the bat and ball couldn't do it this time. Did the supermen just forget their capes?

In 2023, both Ashwin and Jadeja averaged well below 20 in India, continuing their dominant run at home. They went up against Australia in four Tests, of which the first three matches were on pretty helpful surfaces for spinners. But regardless of the pitches, the two veterans were on top of their game. They ensured that India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth consecutive time. In fact, Australia has won the BGT once while Ashwin and Jadeja have been the world’s best spinners. 

India have played 10 Tests at home this year. Ashwin played all of them, while Jadeja missed one in the England series. The left-arm finger spinner averages just under 22, with 44 wickets. On the other hand, Ashwin averages close to 27 and has taken 46 wickets. For most bowlers, that would be pretty good.

Not if you are Ashwin, though. He has had a worse average in a calendar year only twice—2012 and 2017. However, if an average of less than 27 is bad, you are talking about a great player. Most bowlers in the world would take these numbers. 

When we break it down by each series, we start to get a clearer picture. Both of them were averaging around 25 against England and even better against Bangladesh. However, we see that their averages go in divergent paths versus New Zealand. This was only the second instance of the offspinner conceding more than 40 runs per wicket in a home series—the last time was against England in 2012. This is worth remembering, because that is the last time India lost at home before the series against New Zealand. 

Normally, Ashwin is a destroyer of left-handed batters. But this time, they were completely immune to his vicious ways. The idea of lefties averaging nearly 40 at home to Ashwin was a fever dream a few weeks ago. It wasn’t just the amount, it was also the speed—they were scoring at three and a half runs per over. The other tall offspinner in the team, Washington Sundar, took 10 wickets at just 10.4 runs apiece and went at just under three runs an over. 

The Ashwin-Jadeja duo’s combined average in home Tests is around 25 in 2024. It is slightly on the higher side compared to the last three years. But how many teams in the world will not take two bowlers—without even considering their batting talent—that combine to average 25 over 10 Tests in the year?

Split their numbers up individually, and you’ll see that Jadeja’s average has not actually gone up by much compared to the last couple of years. Ashwin had three outstanding years before a more ‘normal’ one in 2024. Only in the overperforming world of India's elite spin twins would normal be seen as a dip in form. 

However, average isn’t the thing that worries me. Batters have simply never scored quicker against them than they did in 2024. It has increased by almost a whole run compared to last year. England, Bangladesh and New Zealand all scored at well above three runs per over against both Ashwin and Jadeja. They didn’t play them with fear. If anything, they decided if they were going to be dismissed, they might as well score on their way out. 

We have seen over the years that Jadeja is the more economical bowler. So even when we look at their economy rates separately, we notice that neither of the two has actually ever conceded these many runs per over in a year at home throughout their careers. Batters are scoring quicker against both Ashwin and Jadeja. It suggests that teams have finally worked out how to mitigate them, at the very least. 

Both Ashwin and Jadeja get a decent amount of turn, though the left-arm spinner has a higher median turn in the last four home series. He is more of a side spinner of the ball, so that makes sense. We tend to classify anything above three degrees of spin as ‘high’, since that’s usually the point where it becomes difficult to bat.

In terms of median speed, Ashwin is around the high-80s mark, while Jadeja is in the low to mid-90s. That is not a surprise, we all know that Jadeja bowls quicker and that has actually been part of the reason why he has been a huge success on Indian wickets. But interestingly, both of them have bowled quicker this year compared to the six matches at home in 2022 and 2023. That was very noticeable in these Tests. We don’t know whether this was intentional or if they’re bowling faster because they’re being attacked more. But it didn’t stop them from spinning the ball, so this isn’t a case of them just darting it in. 

Grip factor, or the coefficient of friction, helps us determine how much the ball is holding for spinners. Higher the score, the more the ball grips for the spinners. For context, when this is less than 0.3, there’s barely any grip on the surface. Between 0.3 and 0.4, there’s assistance but you still need to bowl well to taking advantage of it. When it’s over 0.4, it’s a rank turner. Batters forfeit their right to score runs, and a part-timer like Joe Root becomes Rootalitharan.

When the coefficient of friction is less than 0.4, Ashwin and Jadeja are still great, but opposition spinners average over 40. When the grip factor goes over 0.4, the difference between them and their counterparts reduces significantly.

Since the start of 2021, in the matches where the rest of the spinners average less than 25, Ashwin averages 17.4, and is about 9% better than the others in those matches. On the other hand, Jadeja actually averages 7% worse in that case. However, their numbers are mind-blowing in the games where the others average above that mark—both of them are nearly two times better.

Since India have started dishing out wickets that spin a lot, all they have done is bring opposition spinners into play. It has also affected the confidence of their batters. They can’t make runs at home because of the rank turners, and they can’t make runs away because of the wobbleball and the pace playing pandemic. 

They are reducing the effectiveness of their best spin duo in history. If they are doing it so their two main bowlers have less workload, it is understandable. But by making wickets that spin sideways, they bring the opposition spinners into play. For more than a decade, other spinners have been wondering how Ashwin and Jadeja are so awesome on decent wickets for batting.

But cricket has often had an age problem. In most sports, you can trade or sell off your best players as they get older. In the Olympics, your time or personal best means you play. However, cricket looks at things differently. Instead of simply keeping an older player around but limiting their work, they often just move on arbitrarily under the guise of moving forward. 

James Anderson played Test cricket till the age of 41, and he probably could have played more. In the last couple of years of his career, he became a low-usage bowler but continued to have good returns. He could have still been available for England, playing matches on surfaces that suit, after ample recovery time. The idea that you necessarily have to drop an older player is a bad use of talent. England doesn’t have another James Anderson, so why drop someone of his ability?

It is rare to find a bowler of Ashwin's talent, so moving on from him because of one bad series and age is unreasonable. Plus, Jadeja and him also provide value with the bat, especially in Asia. Of all bowlers with over 500 Test wickets, Ashwin is comfortably the best batter. He is a proper number eight, who can also bat at number seven at times. 

Jadeja, like most great allrounders, took some time initially before his batting started to give better returns. He averages almost 40 in Test cricket since the start of 2016.

Jadeja does not score as many runs per Test compared to all batters with 3000 Test runs. Now, he played fewer innings when India won by big margins, and not outs also help with the boost in his average. 3000 runs includes a lot of great batters as well. He probably just falls short of being a frontline top six batter, as far as utility is concerned. But he more than makes up for it by being a frontline bowler. 

One great spinner is being spoilt, two is just unfair. Add their batting and tactical smarts to the mix, and you can see why the team was so dominant. Not to mention that Jadeja is one of the best fielders in the modern game. India went into most home Tests with a five-man attack and batting till number eight. Most sides have neither of those. They also spin the ball in two different directions, making it really difficult to game plan for them correctly. This is one of cricket’s best ever partnerships. Regardless of age, you don’t move on unless you are sure. 

Part of the reason this is even a discussion is because India are well-equipped to replace this irreplaceable pair. They have Axar Patel, who is the world’s greatest understudy. Axar started Test cricket like he was the next-best thing after George Lohmann. But in the last couple of series, his numbers with the ball have dipped. However, his batting in the last BGT was probably a big reason why Australia couldn’t win the series.

Kuldeep Yadav was India’s best spinner against England earlier in the year, after which India played three quicks against Bangladesh. He was back in Bengaluru (which was a rare Indian surface with little help for spin), but did not play the next two Tests. It is fair to say that he has not yet had a consistently long run in the side. Despite debuting in March 2017, he has played only 13 matches, and will also miss out on the tour to Australia—a country that suits wristspin.

These two were recently seen as the obvious players to take over. Now, it doesn't look as clear-cut as it did before. But if you look at the history of cricket, this is almost never smooth. The replacements are not compared to normal bowlers, but the legends they are taking over from. 

We talked about the dream of Washington Sundar. He clearly seemed like India’s best bowler in the series, and even with the bat he looked much more assured at the crease in the limited opportunities he got while coming down the order. But while he has done well in the six Tests he has played, he is still in development. Consistency away from home will take a while. It would be much better for him to be paired with one of the great spinners, not just take over their positions. 

In terms of player profiles, Axar could do the Jadeja role, while Washington can be the next tall offspinner. Both of them also add value with the bat. They also have the variety of Kuldeep, who is completely different from the other two. All the pieces fit very nicely together. But stepping into the shoes of legends is rarely smooth. 

If India were sure their senior bowlers were done, they could make the move. But how could they be? Jadeja took his third ten-wicket haul in a Test at Wankhede. Ashwin produced one of the best balls of his career to remove Glenn Phillips in the same match. 

They are also aware that India’s batting has been struggling for a while, because part of their job has been rescuing the team with the bat. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are also above 35. And their form is far more concerning than Ashwin’s one bad series or Jadeja's slightly higher economy rate. 

Ashwin, Rohit, Kohli, Jadeja, Shami—this is a side with an ageing core. Even though this is only one series loss, their chances of making the World Test Championship have reduced significantly. It's so dramatic that people are looking for scapegoats everywhere. 

Gautam Gambhir is seemingly already coaching for his job. Rohit Sharma won a World Cup and a lot of IPL titles, but can’t captain because he misread a pitch. KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj are probably still to blame for something. Sarfaraz Khan can’t play spin now. Virat Kohli is finished. Jadeja got outbowled by Ajaz Patel. And Ashwin’s one bad series means he should consider calling it a day. 

Indian fans have seen their team dominate at home for so long. They did not lose to a great New Zealand or Australian team either. And it wasn't just a loss—it was a thumping.

But the cricket world is different now. Before, we were part of a reality where New Zealand beating India at home was impossible. But there is more variability in modern Test cricket. Now, we live in a universe where every batter has decided that playing a forward defence is impossible, so you might as well switch hit a ball. 

The cricket world Ashwin and Jadeja dominated has changed. Sweeping used to be only for batters who preferred playing it. Now, everyone is having a go. From 2018 to 2023, no one really tried to sweep them much. This year, batters played the shot almost every 10 balls. 

But the reverse sweep is causing more issues. The shot was made to upset bowlers, though these two barely noticed it before. Now in every spell, they have to deal with the fact they can’t keep a point fielder up. If they do, someone like Devon Conway or Ollie Pope will pick up a few risky boundaries in a row. By putting the fielder back, it means that the same batters can push the ball on the off side and take off.

For years, Ashwin and Jadeja had batters stuck at one end. Eventually, they were going to dismiss that player. Now he’s at the other end, and it means they don’t get to dissect techniques like they once did. And while they went up against the reverse sweep before, now it’s a more widespread strategy against them. 

This year, they have faced more than half of their reverse sweeps at home since 2015. That is staggering. We have checked how much they spin the ball, and their recent averages, the truth is while both had some flat spots this series, they are still bowling accurate, fast, and turning deliveries. It is the batters who have changed.

They used to sit in the crease and politely wait to be dismissed by them. Now, they are reverse-sweeping everything. And Ashwin and Jadeja have not handled it well. The four losses this year in Tests all had reverse sweeping batters causing issues. It is a risky shot, so it is never going to be very consistent. But it doesn't have to be, it just has to upset them. If batters can stop getting out as quickly and score faster, that is already a huge advantage for their teams compared to the past.

We don't how they will handle this, because it just started. They might still decide to quit without a World Test Championship title. This is a team entering a new phase. They had one of the best home records of all time, so they might just consider heading off into the sunset.

The other thing that happens to players who have massively long careers is the sport changes around them. They live long enough to watch what they do become less impactful. Against Bangladesh, they were the people who could save their batters and win Tests despite two days of rain. Against the Kiwis, they were outbowled by Mitch Santner and Ajaz Patel.

The idea that Ashwin and Jadeja are in decline on the back of the first series in 12 years at home they haven’t dominated is a bit exaggerated. But India were swept by New Zealand because Ashwin and Jadeja got reverse swept. Maybe for the first time in over 4000 days, the supermen just forgot their capes.