Ashwin last took a wicket on Dec 8, 2013; coach Subramaniam analyses where it’s all going wrong for India’s No. 1 spinner.Even JP Duminy was getting far more off the pitch than Ashwin in South Africa.” It’s not a rant from a disgruntled fan, it’s not a barb from a biased critic, it’s not a comment from a nonexpert, but it’s an observation from the man Ashwin dedicated his sevenwicket haul to after a home Test against Australia last year, which had incidentally come on the back of a horrendous series against England. It’s from his coach Sunil Subramaniam. Clearly, the New Year hasn’t been kind to Ashwin. He last took a wicket on December 8 2013, just one wicket in his last seven international innings.Sunil believes things are indeed going wrong with Ashwin. He hasn’t worked with Ashwin for quite some time now but has been noticing the errors that have crept in, the same mistakes that both had worked so hard to erase early last year.“There is no body in his action,” Sunil almost shrieks in pain. “He is just bowling from his hands. This guy is putting absolutely no body into his bowling. How can you expect to take wickets? He has lost his way a bit.”What does using the body during the release mean? Sunil breaks it down further. “The right leg has to come side-on and the distance between both the legs should be the extent of his shoulders. And once he gets into that position, he then has to make vigorous use of the trunk of his body. His core. The body has to go through vigorously through the action. It’s such a vital thing.”And what does it exactly do? “If you use the body, the trajectory of the ball varies a bit. There is a nice parabola to it.”What if, like Ashwin now, one doesn’t get that body into the action? “If you don’t use the body, the ball will still fall in the same place (as when you are using the body) but see it’s all about how the ball arrives at the other end.” The phone crackles with Sunil’s excitement.“The parabola will make the batsman think. The arc of the ball - from down to up and then the dip - is what gets the batsman. He then can’t just pick it off the hand - as batsmen are now doing it with Ashwin - and just get ready to smash. He has to clearly watch the trajectory of the ball and then there is the chance of getting out.”What is Ashwin doing now? “Now he is all about just Newton’s law!”Er… explain.“If you release it from here (Hello I am on a phone here but get you, go on!) it’s going to fall here. It’s one straight flat trajectory - there is no loop - and the batsmen do not have to worry about getting beaten in the air. The problem has always been the body into action. He is now just dependent on the strength of his shoulders and fingers. The body isn’t there at all in his action.”Sunil is also upset at Ashwin’s roundthe-stumps tactics these days. “He is just going round the stumps and firing it. That’s not going to help him. He has his reasons but I am convinced if you are going around the stumps, then you have to get it out side off and turn it in from there. You have to get it across the body of the batsman. But you can’t just fire it in - it comes in the way of rhythm. And it’s not as if he is stopping the runs, is he?”Ashwin has a reputation of being mentally strong and a guy who is passionate about his game. Sunil sees it as strength and a possible weakness in these vulnerable times. “Look he is strong, too grounded to let peripheral things affect him. But this is about technical thing. Perhaps, the team thinks he is a sorted-out guy and someone who can handle himself. They keep overstating that fact that he will take care of himself. But that’s not how spin bowling works. If he doesn’t work on this, other qualities aren’t going to come to help. “Even during that bad home series against England, I didn’t think he was bowling as badly as this. But nowadays … in my book I call it as a lack of effort.” That’s a damning statement in many ways. Will Ashwin do the necessary course correction and quickly at that? Perhaps, a call to his coach Sunil won’t be such a bad idea., 3rd ODI Auckland Live on Sony Six today