Is R Ashwin's lack of fitness finally catching up with him?

[mancalledsting]

Granted he has been our no.1 bowler for last two seasons and his overall record is excellent. Question is, has the poor form this series just been down to lack of form or is it lack of fitness at the end of the long season?

 

I first became concerned when India played England at Mumbai and wicket was turning square on day 4. Ashwin bowled brilliantly initially and looked unplayable but then at the end of day 4 became tired and allowed joe root and bairstow to play well and England scored quickly in turning conditions. Next morning, after a rest he turns up and demolishes the team in hardly any overs and looked unplayable.

 

Then I asked myself, will he be able to make most of his exceptional talent or will he become tired and a spent force. Since that observation he has had a below par performance in Chennai vs England, horrible in ODIs vs England and horrible series vs Australia so far. 

 

So out of form or just lacks stamina? I've always thought he needs to lose at least 10kgs in weight. 

Edited March 6, 2017 by mancalledsting
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[Malcolm Merlyn]

He is carrying a very painful injury.

[CG]

Actually he seems leaner than he was against England

[Gollum]

Sports hernia I heard can be very irritating.

I hope he skips IPL. We need a fit Ashwin in Champions Trophy especially after what he did in the previous edition.

[sensible-indian]

3 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Sports hernia I heard can be very irritating.

I hope he skips IPL. We need a fit Ashwin in Champions Trophy especially after what he did in the previous edition.

Dude hi :)

[Gollum]

1 minute ago, sensible-indian said:

Dude hi :)

Hi man, here after a long time, RSA test series I think. 

[Laaloo]

1 minute ago, Gollum said:

Hi man, here after a long time, RSA test series I think. 

Welcome back 

[sensible-indian]

2 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Hi man, here after a long time, RSA test series I think. 

Yeah I remember. I thought I saw you last during the SL series.

Edited March 6, 2017 by sensible-indian

[Vilander]

playing with Injury or in pain with medications is a very tough job, i think the team thinks a reduced Ashwin is still more potent that the next spinner thats why he is playing.

[Brainfade]

6 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Sports hernia I heard can be very irritating.

I hope he skips IPL. We need a fit Ashwin in Champions Trophy especially after what he did in the previous edition.

The problem is that sports hernia is a neither here nor there injury for a spin bowler. Not one to keep you completely away, but enough to affect you so that you can't do with your body what you normally do.  Especially bad is the inability to twist your lower body correctly, which is so key for a spinner.  And with rhythm, precision and consistency being such a key element of spin bowling, even a 10% loss of ability can make the difference between Ashwin the destroyer and Ashwin the innocuous. 

[sensible-indian]

To the docs here, how long does this take to get sorted?

 

If at all, it can be sorted.....

[The Realist]

Did someone just whisper Amit Mishra? 

[Brainfade]

32 minutes ago, sensible-indian said:

To the docs here, how long does this take to get sorted?

 

If at all, it can be sorted.....

Not a doctor, but dabble a bit in human anatomy and physiology.  Weeks of rest, with maybe a bit of physiotherapy, is the only treatment.  If it gets really bad, go under the knife.  He has not had any rest.  He's probably managing with painkillers and mild physio sessions.

 

And no, there is no natural, ayurvedic treatment for this :-).  Just like Sreesanth found out the hard way about his knee.    

[sensible-indian]

1 hour ago, Moth2Flame said:

Not a doctor, but dabble a bit in human anatomy and physiology.  Weeks of rest, with maybe a bit of physiotherapy, is the only treatment.  If it gets really bad, go under the knife.  He has not had any rest.  He's probably managing with painkillers and mild physio sessions.

 

And no, there is no natural, ayurvedic treatment for this :-).  Just like Sreesanth found out the hard way about his knee.    

I see...

 

Then I suppose he has to go under knife. How long does that take to recover?

 

He has been having this issue for a long while but I suppose its getting worse.

 

Quote

"Against New Zealand and England I could perform only 60-70 per cent of my potential. I’m trying to get better and put more strength on my body. "Sports Hernia is something that can’t be managed easily. It’s been a big challenge for me. It takes a lot of time to warm up these days. "For me, trying to phase out the 20 days (of the series) is very important. I will get there in the most effective manner."

 

[Sidhoni]

Why did he bowl almost non stop in first innings if he is not 100%?

[satishg]

He still looked like taking wicket out of every over in the 2nd day first session first spell. He could have had Renshaw out with a little bit of luck and even had Steve Smith LBW if not for that useless Nigel Long to say no when it looked more out than the one he gave Kohli out.

 

Obviously Lyon has outbowled and outshined him in this game, but i think the team management thinks that even a 60% fit Ashwin is good enough to take wickets. He is definitely not bowling at his best, maybe Kohli should have him as a containing option and give Jadeja the bulk of bowling in 2nd innings. He needs a big break though after this series, i dont see the team management resting Ashwin for the next 2 matches given the importance of this series.

[Brainfade]

15 minutes ago, Sidhoni said:

Why did he bowl almost non stop in first innings if he is not 100%?

Majboori.  Who else do we have?

[Sidhoni]

28 minutes ago, Moth2Flame said:

Majboori.  Who else do we have?

Jadeja bowled less than half the no. of overs and picked up 3 times as many wickets. Pacers were bowling well too.

[mancalledsting]

He's been the worst spinner this series so far. Also we must be careful of playing injured players through long seasons- we finished off virus career off like this. Following surgery he was never the same. 

[Brainfade]

1 hour ago, Sidhoni said:

Jadeja bowled less than half the no. of overs and picked up 3 times as many wickets. Pacers were bowling well too.

Possibly some old-school "off-spinner to left-handers" postulate at work.  Weird, I agree.