The heart of every remarkable Indian Test team has been a potent spin bowling attack. The quartet made India a force to reckon with in the 1970s and the Kumble-Harbhajan duo dominated batting line-ups in the 2000s. The ongoing Test series between India and South Africa is an early, but significant indication that at the helm of most of the Indian Test victories in the coming times will be trio of R Ashwin, Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja.

All three of them have undertaken varied journeys to get to the peak of their prowess, much like the diverse skills they bring into the team. As they revel in the historic series win over South Africa they architected for India, let’s get to know them better as bowlers and what each one of them brings to the table.

In an attempt to do so, BCCI.TV had a chat with India’s bowling coach, Bharat Arun, who gave us an insight into their evolution as bowlers and the potency they bring to India’s bowling as a troika.

R Ashwin

What is the biggest change you have seen in Ashwin since England last year? There is no great change in his bowling. The only thing is that now he is more aware of his strengths and has understood the angles at which he needs to bowl to be most effective. He was always a good bowler but now he is growing in stature with each series because his awareness levels have improved tremendously. It is very evident that he has cut out the use of his variations a lot. What kind of talk resulted in this change? The point we discussed was this. He is one of the best off-spinners around. The challenge was for him to say, ‘I will trouble the best in the world with my off-spin’. The fact is that he is a lot more consistent in bowling his off-spin right now. That means his variations are a big surprise. Of course, he has got a lot of them up his sleeve, but he uses them very sparingly. The more you use a variation, it ceases to be a variation. To determine the right opportune moment to use a variation is a big challenge for a bowler, and an even bigger challenge is to get it right. There is a lot of pressure out in the middle. To go amid such pressure and say, ‘I am going to bring out this exact ball’ takes a lot of confidence. If it doesn’t go right, there will be a lot of consequences. But Ashwin is in such space right now that he is not worried about that, because he is extremely confident about his bowling. This is the X factor in his bowling right now.

We have often seen you and him having these long conversations in the nets. What kind of work goes on there?

My job is only to make him understand the different angles and we speak about it a lot. He has a lot of questions to ask and I try to clear the doubts that come up in his minds. Once the doubts are cleared, the bowler goes about expressing himself. We set the benchmark such that we try and go beyond what is expected. Even if something we talk about is not applicable in a match situation, there is some degree of benefit in it that would really help him out in a match. When we try out different things, we try it from different angles. It may not suit him particularly at that time but he may gain something out of it, even if it is only the feel good factor, which he could bring into his technique. When you experiment and discover certain things in the nets, you can use them in the game.

You talked about the different angles. Can you elaborate on it?

It is mainly the wrist position. The main target is the stumps and the batsman in front of it. When you try to hit the stumps from different angles, the wrist position automatically changes and so does the way you release the ball. It is important for a bowler to understand how the ball behaves from all different positions. When he goes out there to bowl, this understanding will help him in reading the situation and using those angles accordingly.

Do you think he has developed a style that will fetch him success in all conditions?

There is a lot of talk about Ashwin not doing well overseas, but I beg to differ. He has 50 wickets overseas at an average of 36. Also, it is a process of evolving. Today, Ashwin is not dependent on the wicket. He is now more dependent on spinning the ball in the air. Over a period of time, the biggest challenge for him will be to take the wicket out of the equation and completely trust his ability to spin the ball in the air to beat the batsman.

He is doing that much better now because there are a lot of revolutions on the ball once it leaves his hand, due to which the ball dips. When the batsman sees the ball, he thinks it is going to be fuller and so he tries to step out. But it falls a wee bit short and the batsman is not up to the drive. This is happening extremely consistently for Ashwin. The reason for this is the kind of spin he imparts on the ball. Is his improved standard of fitness helping him to use his entire body while bowling?

It is a wrong concept that spinners mainly use their fingers and shoulders to bowl. You have to use your entire body. And bowling 25 overs in a day is very demanding on a spinner’s entire body. Ashwin has understood this and has worked a lot on his fitness. He is a lot fitter today than he was some time ago. That is helping him to use his body much better and has a lot to do with where he is today. Ravindra Jadeja What is the major difference you see in him since his return to the Test team? The time that he spent out of the team gave him time to think about his bowling and contemplate what he needs to do to be consistent at this level. With those performances in the Ranji Trophy, he has come back stronger and more confident. He is not a big turner of the ball but his straight balls fetch him wickets. Does that trait deceive the batsmen?

Jadeja is someone who depends on his accuracy. He is spot on and attacks the stumps. He also has an uncanny knack of bowling straight on a wicket that offers turn. This makes him extremely potent and all the more difficult to counter. Yes, most of the wickets he has got in this series are off straighter ones. He would get one to turn and the one that goes straight, comes in to the right-hander. So the batsman doesn’t know which one is going to come into him and which one is going to leave him. He finishes his overs very quickly. Does that affect the batsmen that they are hurried into the next ball?

It does play a part. What helps him do that is that he has a very uncomplicated and repeatable action that enables him to use his body very efficiently. He comes off a very short run-up but is very effective because there is a lot of pace in his deliveries. So, he finishes his over in under two minutes, is very accurate and quick through the air. All these things add to his effectiveness. He has played most of his international cricket under MS Dhoni. And we could see that MS constantly told him from behind the stumps where to bowl and what to do. Now do you think he has reached the stage where he has started thinking for himself as a bowler?

Dhoni is one of the best captains we have had, and the way he passed on his experience to Jadeja is benefitting him now. Dhoni has groomed him really well, and yes, now he is capable of forming his own plans. We want him to use that experience and think a lot more about his own bowling. Now he is setting his own fields, which has also a lot to do with his confidence level. Amit Mishra

He came back into the Test team in Sri Lanka and is the most experienced man in this young team. What was he told when he came in? Mishra is a readymade bowler. When he walked into the Test side in Sri Lanka, he had 500-odd first-class wickets under his belt. So, he obviously knows exactly how to bowl on such wickets. Also, for a leg-spinner, he is very accurate, that makes him special. Handling a leg-spinner properly is extremely important, and that’s where Virat has played a major role. He gave him the kind of confidence that a leg-spinner needs and deserves. That has paid rich dividends. Do you see a distinct change in his attitude towards fitness? He has seen the kind of fitness standards that are around. He has seen other cricketers and spinners around him who are so fit. That has motivated him to work hard on his own fitness. Having done well since his comeback has also been a big motivating factor. I am seeing him much more in the gym these days.

Like Ashwin, has Mishra too become judicious in his use of the googly? He doesn’t overuse the googly. In fact, we ask him to use it a lot more than he is currently using it. He has got other variations as well. He can bowl the flipper, and he has mastered the art of bowling to different trajectories. He is growing in confidence with every match, and you will see a lot more of him in the coming days.