The last time India played a home ODI World Cup match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, was in 2011 against the West Indies, which is best remembered for Yuvraj Singh slamming 113 and picking 2-13 in the hosts’ 80-run victory.
There was an element of homecoming in that game when a young Ravichandran Ashwin took 2-41 in his ten overs at Chepauk. Cut to now, and 12 years later, a grand homecoming awaits veteran off-spinner Ashwin when India takes on Australia in their 2023 World Cup opening match on Sunday afternoon, as Chennai is back to hosting a global tournament game featuring the hosts’.
In a way, Chennai and Ashwin have an inseparable bond, right from the time the off-spinner, hailing from the West Mambalam region in the city, rose through the ranks in his quest to make it to the Indian team.
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That quest took him to play at Chepauk and various cricket grounds in the city, irrespective of the matches being international, IPL, domestic, or TNCA league games. Ashwin eventually established himself as one of the greats of the game via international and IPL games, including a Player of the Match performance in the 2021 Test against England, where he smashed a century and took eight wickets.
In the current Indian team, Ashwin is the only person who can be termed as a walking encyclopedia for knowing all things about the MA Chidambaram Stadium – right from the direction and speed of the wind to the amount of turn, grip, and bounce off the pitch and the boundary sizes, trust him to use his relentless and busy bee-like brain in helping the hosts’ get a winning start to the tournament on Sunday.
“India has a very good revolutionary spinner in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin. He will impart those revolutions on the ball and knows what is happening. He has bowled quite a few times against Australia and he will be very useful in power-play number two. With four fielders outside, he will bowl with his guile and ability to contain the Australian batters,” said spin-bowling legend VV Kumar.
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