The Ashwin-Dhoni chicken v egg dilemma

R Ashwin has gone without completing his quota of four overs in 10 of his last 20 Twenty20 matches, including five games for Rising Pune Supergiants in IPL 2016. On five of those occasions, he has bowled two overs or fewer. While Ashwin isn't the only spinner being under-bowled in this year's IPL, it has become a talking point because of how India's lead spinner and perhaps India's greatest captain haven't been able to replicate their symbiotic partnership in a season where the Supergiants have struggled.

MS Dhoni and Ashwin have fed off each other's success over the last few years. In 2010, Ashwin's career took off under Dhoni's captaincy after he finished as the joint-second highest wicket-taker for Chennai Super Kings in their victorious IPL campaign and leading wicket-taker in their Champions League T20 title run in South Africa.

Ashwin's swift ascent, which coincided with Harbhajan Singh's waning fortunes, helped Dhoni build his bowling strategy around him, especially at home. In T20s, Dhoni has won 11 of 12 games where Ashwin has picked up three wickets or more. Dhoni, who is accustomed to walking bowlers through their plans, even praised Ashwin's ability to work out his own game plan.

But Dhoni hasn't seemed to trust Ashwin enough lately and is increasingly loath to deploy him when there are two right handers at the crease. In the World T20, Ashwin bowled his full quota only on two occasions and he was given only two overs in the semi-final against the West Indies. Dhoni cited dew as the reason but Ashwin's counter was he didn't get to bowl despite creating wicket-taking opportunities.

There is statistical evidence to suggest the World T20 semi-final was only the tipping point of a longer period during which Ashwin has been under-bowled. Of the 33 T20 innings Ashwin has bowled during the last 12 months, he has completed four overs on only 20 occasions. In 2014 and 2015, he didn't bowl his full quota for Super Kings in 11 out of 34 innings. Dhoni sought to play down the trend after Supergiants' opening game against Mumbai Indians where Ashwin was given only one over. So far in the IPL, Ashwin has taken three wickets in 30 overs at an average of 72 and an economy rate of 7.2.

"Ashwin has bailed me out in a lot of situations - whether bowling in the first six or in the slog phase," Dhoni said. "Ashwin is a mature bowler. He can bowl at any point of time." But things don't seem to have changed much as Ashwin was introduced only in the 17th over in Supergiants' last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Coach Stephen Fleming said such decisions were down to Dhoni and backed his judgment.

"The thing with R Ashwin, with India as well, is an expectation that he should bowl four," he said. "But if conditions don't suit then you've seen the captain over a number of formats turn to other players. As far as cricketing decisions go in the middle then that's purely MS' decisions, and making his calls with the experience that he has and the relationship that he's had with Ashwin over the years."

It is difficult to pinpoint the reasons for Ashwin's diminished role in Dhoni's bowling plans without surmising. It is possible the trust deficit could have begun in the aftermath of the drawn Johannesburg Test of December 2013 where Ashwin bowled 36 wicketless overs in the second innings and subsequently found himself out of the team for six Tests.

Ashwin had then remarked ahead of the subsequent 2014 tour of England that he wasn't comfortable with being used in a holding role. The ODI series in Australia late last year where Ashwin wasn't particularly incisive in the two games he played might have had a role to play as well.

But, to be fair to Dhoni, Ashwin isn't the only spinner who has been under-bowled during this IPL. Even Amit Mishra, the most successful spinner in the tournament, has bowled only a little more than three overs per game - ditto with Axar Patel, Piyush Chawla and Ashwin's namesake Murugan at Supergiants. Also, finger spinners have found the going tough with pitches offering very little assistance. In Ashwin's defence, though, his economy rate has been lower than the names mentioned above.

It's not known if Dhoni and Fleming have sat Ashwin down to discuss where he figured in their plans. When asked how the team handled a situation where the strike bowler was possibly under-utilised, Fleming said such things shouldn't be a "confidence shaker." "We keep working on Ashwin's variations. He's a very clever bowler. So [it is about] making sure that when he gets the opportunity, he should be as good as he can be," he said.

"As a coach, all you can ask from your players is preparation. Once they go out on the field, it's down to gamesmanship. But, I certainly believe that he's one of the most talented spinners in the world and creating opportunities through training for him to show his skills."