A new beginning after the era and aura of Ashwin-vincibility

When the Indian team takes on the West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the first Test on Wednesday, it will mark the dawn of a new era in Indian cricket. For the first time in more than a decade, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the true legends of the game, will be absent. Yet the most glaring void will be the absence of Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing XI.

For 14 years and 65 Tests, he was a constant feature in the Indian team and a wolf at the door for the opposition. Since his debut in November 2011, incidentally against the West Indies, Ashwin - who retired from international cricket last year - had been a permanent fixture in India's home Tests. He did not miss a single home game since that debut encounter at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.

"I enjoyed every moment under the sun playing at home. It's like you are defending your territory," Ashwin told Cricbuzz when asked about his absence and retirement from the game. He went on to wish the Shubman Gill side luck. "Good luck to all the boys who will play to defend their territory."

India won 47 of those Ashwin's 65 home Tests, giving him a winning percentage of 72, bolstered by 29 five-wicket hauls, six 10-wicket match returns, seven Player of the Match awards, and 11 Player of the Series honours. Few Indian players have had as profound an impact on both their team and the opposition as Ashwin. Few in India, world as well, match his consistency. In all he had 383 wickets at home in an overall career tally of 537 wickets in 106 matches.

"His consistency and accuracy were remarkable. He had this uncanny knack for bowling straighter deliveries even on turning tracks, which is never easy," recalls Bharat Arun, India's bowling coach during Ashwin's peak in the last decade. "The batsman would be playing for the turn and the ball goes straight. He possessed a wide range of variations."

While overseas bowlers were often credited with variations like flippers, top-spinners, zooters, and sliders - essentially different names for near-identical deliveries - Ashwin stood apart by creating an array of genuine variations that had no fancy names. He not only kept batsmen guessing about what was coming next.

His partnership with Ravindra Jadeja was lethal, the two forming one of the most devastating combinations in home conditions - 515 wickets in just 49 Tests, figures that are far superior to the more celebrated tandem of James Anderson and Stuart Broad in comparison. The English duo had managed 697 scalps in 85 home games. For the opposition, the Ashwin-Jadeja duo was a relentless two-pronged assault that would suffocate them with their combination of guile, variety, and relentless accuracy from both ends. The opposition would have no time to relax.

While a player like Ashwin is irreplaceable, Arun believes India have enough depth to make up for his absence. "They are big shoes to fill no doubt, but there's always somebody ready to step in. India have got Kuldeep Yadav, who's been fantastic and has done well in the past in Test matches. With Jadeja still around, there's plenty of experience. Jadeja, we all know what he is capable of. And there are Washington Sundar and Axar Patel," says Arun. All four named by the former bowling coach are part of the current squad, with three of them vying for a spot in the XI.