Ravichandran Ashwin faces Australian litmus test fourth time, will he succeed finally?

History tells us one thing very clearly about Australian pitches - they are the most difficult in the world for finger-spinners, especially off-spinners. This is why the pantheon of great Aussie spinners consists entirely of leg-spinners - Clarie Grimmett, Bill O'Reilly, Richie Benaud, Shane Warne, etc. 

Off-spinners have been produced by Australia. But before the arrival of Nathan Lyon, they enjoyed only modest success for their team, at least in terms of numbers. The greatest among them was, probably, Ashley Mallett. Bruce Yardley and Tim May also did a good job for their team, but not for as long and as successfully as the leggies. 

How difficult the land Down Under is for offies can be gauged by looking at the performances of great spinners of this variety from around the world in this country. During the 1960s - arguably the golden era of off-spin bowling, the likes of Erapalli Prasanna, Lance Gibbs, and South Africa's lesser-known Hugh Tayfield had success over there. These bowlers are the greatest of this category of bowlers in the history of the game. 

But in the last few decades, be it Muttiah Muralitharan, Harbhajan Singh, or many other off-break bowlers, they have been completely ineffective on tours of that country. In case of Murali, the controversy regarding his action and the hostility of the cricket establishment over there can be cited as an excuse. But others have struggled also. 

Saqlain Mushtaq and Graeme Swann got a five-wicket haul in Australia. But apart from that, they also had ordinary figures. 

So, in 2011, when Ravichandran Ashwin was chosen to be India's lead spinner on the tour of Australia, in only his second international Test series - he made his debut against West Indies at home that year - not much was expected of him. 

He had a promising start to the series, getting four wickets in the first match. But then, endured two miserable matches where Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting, along with Michael Hussey, ground Indian bowling into dust. Ashwin, like many before him, returned from Australia, battered and bruised. 

His second opportunity to prove himself in the 'final frontier' came three years later. On the 2014/15 tour, the Indian team sprung a surprise in the first Test, played at Adelaide, by dropping Ashwin and selecting the leg-spinner Karn Sharma. Not only did the latter fail to make a mark, the Australian counterpart of Ashwin, ended up picking 12 wickets. 

He did get an opportunity in the next three Tests, but failed to make an impression, mainly due to the imperious batting by Steve Smith. Not only did he not get a five-for, the equivalent of a century for a batsman, but went for a lot of runs. 

Ashwin's third opportunity to prove himself in this country arrived on the historic tour of 2018/19. This time, he not only had much more experience but had a very feeble looking Aussie batting line-up against him. In the first Test at Adelaide, Ashwin picked up three wickets in the first innings. 

With the pitch providing generous turn, he had a gold-plated opportunity to finish off the match and finally bury the ghost of not having won a match outside Asia. But on the final day, Ashwin had to go through over 40 overs without a wicket while the pacers kept chipping away. He did pick up the last wicket but it was merely a consolation. 

Then, he got injured and missed the rest of the series. 

Now, Ashwin is in Australia for the fourth time. This country remains unconquered by his wiles. For a man who holds the record for getting 300 wickets in less number of Tests than anyone in history, his overseas record, or to be more precise, his record outside Asia, remains disappointing. Even if the numbers don't look so bad, the lack of a match-winning, or match-changing, or even eye-grabbing performance, is very odd. 

This then, is the fourth and, who knows, the last opportunity for the Tamil Nadu spinner to prove himself. He is in a similar position to Virat Kohli before the tour of England in 2018. Getting wickets in Australia is the most difficult proposition for any off-spinner. No bowler of this variety has managed a match-winning performance in Australia this century, except Graeme Swann in the Adelaide Test of 2010. 

Can Ashwin finally pass the litmus test, on his fourth try? Only time will tell. He can't claim to be an all-time great without doing so. 

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