R ASHWIN became only the first spinner to be named as ICC Player of the Year on Thursday since the award was constituted a dozen years ago. He’s only the third bowler after Dale Steyn and Mitchell Johnson to win cricket’s biggest individual prize and now joins Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid as the third Indian to lift the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy. The 30-year-old was also named as 2016’s Test cricketer of the year, making him also the first spin bowler to claim the prestigious prize. And not surprisingly, Ashwin was included in the Test team of the year, the first-ever Indian bowler to make the cut. He had been the 12th man in 2015 and 2013 while the likes of Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have come within a whisker of entering the playing XI.
So basically, 2016 was Ashwin’s year. If anything, his performances have only gotten better post the voting period—September 14, 2015 to September 20, 2016—where he’s gone on to set new benchmarks in terms of bowling records. In that period, Ashwin snared 48 wickets at 15.39. But he probably also qualified as an all-rounder, considering the 336 runs he scored at 42 in those 8 Tests, including two centuries. His dominant run wasn’t limited only to a single format. This was also Ashwin’s best phase in international T20s as he pocketed 27 wickets at 15.62 apiece.
