Ashwin Anna rocks Bangladesh on Super Sunday, India win first Test by massive margin

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They call him Ashwin Anna down South, a sign of massive respect. On Super Sunday, the wily off-spinner showed craft, guile and variety he has developed by constantly working on his bowling.

If he has developed variety, then it is of menacing proportion. And for all those who thought a man making his arrival on the grand stage in cricket through the IPL would not blossom in Test cricket, Ashwin has never got his due.

At 38 and with his kind of experience, Ashwin never made it big as a leader. He did not get full time vice-captaincy, leave alone be in the reckoning for captaincy.

Never mind, rather Ashwin does not mind all this. As the saying goes, in the twilight of his career, he shines bright as he bamboozled Bangladesh as India won the first Test at the Chepauk by a whopping 280 runs.

After going wicketless in the first innings, there was that urge, the eagerness in the way Ashwin had bowled in the second innings. He had started preying on the minds of the mediocre Bangla batters on Saturday.

The icing on the cake was to finish with a six-wicket haul for 88 runs in 21 overs. He was ably supported by Ravindra Jadeja, who took three wickets for 58 runs.

This has been one great Test for India in the sense almost in every department the players clicked. The cynics can say captain Rohit Sharma failed and so did Virat Kohli.

That does not matter, the rest of the team clicked, with centuries from Ashwin in the first innings plus the hundreds from Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant proving what the depth is in Indian batting.

As regards the bowling story, if Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep looked good in the first innings, it was important for Ashwin to fire in the second innings.

A few days after his 38th birthday, Ashwin was ready like an eager beaver, ready to toll his arm over. He has done well in the TNPL and by his own admission, prepared hard before in the league camp.

How does one value Ashwin, as a batter who hammered a hundred in style or the way he bowled? India need all-rounders in Test cricket, so for Ashwin and Jadeja to hunt in a pair was intimidating.

Ashwin has spoken of how special it is to play at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. For a man who entertains so many people on his YT channel with short stories, Ashwin was almost reverential when he spoke about the role his wife Prithi plays in his life.

It is reverential and captures a happy man who loves what he is doing. Back to TNPL and Tests, it is as different as chalk and cheese. The ball behaves differently and the craft a bowler has to exhibit are different. Ashwin has taken 522 wickets in 101 Test macthes and will chug along.

He dares, he innovates, he preys on the mind of the batters. And for those who feel he is not the most athletic-looking cricketer, don't expect Ashwin to be a young dude. He is 38, works on his game and fitness and is a team man. He knows, when it comes to overseas Test tours, he is not the first choice, Jadeja is.

Ashwin does not mind that. As he stepped off the Chepauk and boarded the team bus, he left behind a treasure trove of memories. He has romanced this venue crazily and mentions he does not know if he can come back for a Test again.

Is that Ashwin wanting to make the fan emotional or Ashwin the Anna, a senior, who knows, there are younger players who will push him. Maybe, the younger spinners need to get better, as Ashwin towers above the rest right now in Indian cricket as a spinner.