Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja: How good have they been against South Africa, and in their careers?

It will not be an exaggeration to call Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja the two deciding factors of India’s success in the recently concluded 2015-16 series against South Africa.

It will not be an exaggeration to call Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja the two deciding factors of India’s success in the recently concluded 2015-16 series against South Africa. Not only has the 3-0 margin been resounding, India have won their Tests by 108 runs (Mohali), 124 runs (Nagpur), and 337 runs (Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi). The magnitudes of victories at Mohali and Nagpur may not sound as astounding as the one in Kotla, but Mohali and Nagpur were low-scoring Tests. India also held upper hand in the second Test at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, bowling out South Africa for 214 and finishing Day One on 80 without loss. Unfortunately, four days of play were lost due to rain. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs South Africa 2015 4th Test at Delhi

Ashwin and Jadeja shared 54 wickets between them in the series. Amit Mishra played only 2 Tests, but had 7 wickets to show as well, so let us throw him in the mix too.

Indian spinners in 2015-16 series vs South Africa:

Players	M	W	Ave	SR
Ravichandran Ashwin	4	31	11.13	31.9
Ravindra Jadeja	4	23	10.83	36.7
Amit Mishra	2	7	17.29	36.9
All three spinners		61	11.72	34.3

Where does the Ashwin-Jadeja pair rank in history? How many pairs of spinners have taken more wickets in a Test series? READ: India vs South Africa 2015, Test series: Marks out of 10 for the hosts

Two spinners from same side taking 50 or more wickets in a Test series:

For	Vs	In	Season	Bowler 1	M	W	Bowler 2	M	W	Total
Aus	SA	SA	1935-36	Clarrie Grimmett	5	44	Bill O’Reilly	5	27	71
Eng	Aus	Eng	1956	Jim Laker	5	46	Tony Lock	4	15	61
Ind	Eng	Ind	1972-73	B Chandrasekhar	5	35	Bishan Bedi	5	25	60
WI	Eng	Eng	1950	Alf Valentine	4	33	Sonny Ramadhin	4	26	59
Ind	Aus	Aus	1977-78	Bishan Bedi	5	31	B Chandrasekhar	5	28	59
Aus	Eng	Eng	1993	Shane Warne	6	34	Tim May	5	21	55
Ind	SA	Ind	2015-16	R Ashwin	4	31	Ravindra Jadeja	4	23	54
Aus	Eng	Eng	1934	Bill O’Reilly	5	28	Clarrie Grimmett	5	25	53
Ind	Aus	Ind	2012-13	R Ashwin	4	29	Ravindra Jadeja	4	24	53
Eng	NZ	Eng	1957	Tony Lock	5	34	Jim Laker	4	17	51
Ind	Aus	Ind	1979-80	Dilip Doshi	6	27	Shivlal Yadav	5	24	51

Note: Not quite a pair, but Bishan Bedi (25 wickets), Bhagwat Chandrasekhar (19), and EAS Prasanna (18) in the 5-Test series against England at home in 1976-77 is worth a mention.

Indeed, Ashwin and Jadeja have been the fourth pair (after Clarrie Grimmett and Bill O’Reilly, Jim Laker and Tony Lock, and Bishan Bedi and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar) to take 50 wickets between them in a Test series twice. However, they are the only pair to do it twice in 4-Test series. In fact, Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadhin are the only other spin pair to have taken 50 wickets in a Test series between them. READ: Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round show vs South Africa in Freedom Series 2015 should put to rest the all-rounder debate

But where do these men stand in terms of series performances among spinners? Let us check the post-War era:

Best averages by spinners in a series after World War II (qualification: 20 wickets):

Player	vs	Season	M	W	Ave	SR
Tony Lock	NZ	1958	5	34	7.47	31.1
Johnny Wardle	Pak	1954	4	20	8.80	42.9
Derek Underwood	NZ	1969	3	24	9.17	37.5
Jim Laker	Aus	1956	5	46	9.61	37.0
Muttiah Muralitharan	Zim	2001-02	3	30	9.80	40.6
Ravindra Jadeja	SA	2015-16	4	23	10.83	36.7
Muttiah Muralitharan	Ban	2007	3	26	10.85	26.0
Ravichandran Ashwin	SA	2015-16	4	31	11.13	31.9
Daniel Vettori	Ban	2004-05	2	20	11.20	33.5
Graeme Swann	Pak	2010	4	22	12.23	29.1

Best strike rates by spinners in a series after World War II (qualification: 20 wickets):

Player	vs	Season	M	Balls	Runs	W	Ave	SR
Muttiah Muralitharan	Ban	2007	3	677	282	26	10.85	26.0
Shane Warne	Pak	2002-03	3	744	342	27	12.67	27.6
Anil Kumble	Pak	1998-99	2	587	312	21	14.86	28.0
Graeme Swann	Pak	2010	4	641	269	22	12.23	29.1
Tony Lock	NZ	1958	5	1056	254	34	7.47	31.1
Ravichandran Ashwin	SA	2015-16	4	988	345	31	11.13	31.9
Rangana Herath	Pak	2014	2	742	348	23	15.13	32.3
Ravichandran Ashwin	SL	2015	3	690	380	21	18.10	32.9
Harbhajan Singh	Aus	2000-01	3	1071	545	32	17.03	33.5
Daniel Vettori	Ban	2004-05	2	670	224	20	11.20	33.5

Both Ashwin and Jadeja have had phenomenal climbs up the ICC ratings and rankings ladder during the series. At present they are ranked 2nd and 7th on the ICC bowling rankings respectively.

ICC Test bowling ratings and rankings for Ashwin and Jadeja during the series:

Time	R Ashwin		Ravindra Jadeja
	Rating	Ranking	Rating	Ranking
Before series	760	8	466	30
After 1st Test (Mohali)	797	4	600	21
After 2nd Test (Chinnaswamy)	806	5	665	13
After 3rd Test (Nagpur)	856	2	693	11
After 4th Test (Kotla)	871	2	789	7

Jadeja’s rise seems steeper than Ashwin’s, but it must be remembered that the higher the rating is, the slower is the growth. Jadeja has also catapulted from 30th on the bowling rank before the series to 7th after it. His rating has increased from 466 to 789. Ashwin and Jadeja have also achieved their career-best ICC ratings. In fact, not many bowlers have matched their rankings in the history of Indian cricket. READ: ICC’s ‘poor’ rating on Nagpur pitch highlights cricket governing body’s ineptness

Do note that these are the best-achieved ratings. These do not represent entire careers, but represent performances of the players at their peaks.

Best-ever ICC Test bowler ratings for Indians (700 or more)

Rank	Player	Global rank	Top rating	Top rating date
1	Kapil Dev	36	877	19/1/1980
2	Ravichandran Ashwin	38	871	8/12/2015
3	Anil Kumble	46	859	30/1/1994
4	Vinoo Mankad	80	811	17/11/1952
5	Subhash Gupte	87	806	10/1/1956
6	Bishan Bedi	91	804	20/12/1977
7	Dilip Doshi		794	3/2/1982
8	Ravindra Jadeja		789	8/12/2015
9	Pragyan Ojha		773	9/12/2012
10	Harbhajan Singh		765	16/12/2002
11	Irfan Pathan		761	14/12/2005
12	Javagal Srinath		757	14/10/1999
13	Zaheer Khan		752	30/12/2010
14	EAS Prasanna		747	2/12/1969
15	Bhagwat Chandrasekhar		730	11/1/1978
16	Venkatapathy Raju		723	14/12/1994
17	Bapu Nadkarni		712	8/12/1964

Note: The global ranks are provided only when the bowlers are in the top 100.

Do note that Ashwin’s current rank has been bettered only by Kapil Dev among Indians. Jadeja too has been fantastic, and is marginally out of the all-time top 100 bowlers. Ashwin has jumped past even Anil Kumble after the last Test. READ: India vs South Africa 2015, 4th Test: Feroz Shah Kotla not likely to offer respite to spin-ravaged visitors

Note:

– India’s first great Test spinners, Vinoo Mankad and Subhash Gupte, ranked above the spinners of the 1970s.

– Bishan Bedi had the highest rating of the 1970s spinners, but neither EAS Prasanna nor Bhagwat Chandrasekhar reached 750. Srinivas Venkataraghavan never made it to 700.

– Dilip Doshi, Pragyan Ojha, and Harbhajan Singh all rank above Prasanna and Chandra, as does Ravindra Jadeja.

– Though Kapil tops the list, he is the only seamer in the top 10. However, slots 11, 12, and 13 are occupied by fast bowlers.

– As many as 5 of the top 9 bowlers (Mankad, Bedi, Doshi, Jadeja, and Pragyan Ojha) are left-arm spinners. In fact, 9 men (7 spinners, 2 pacers) on the list of 17 are left-arm bowlers.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketCountry and CricLife. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)

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