India off-spinner R Ashwin (right) celebrates South African Hashim Amla’s wicket with captain Virat Kohli during the ICC Champions Trophy match at The Oval in London on Sunday. Pic/AFP

Ravichandran Ashwin hates sitting on the sidelines. He is the type of character who searches deeply for solutions to ensure he stays ahead of the game. So the minute he had been discarded from the playing XI for the first two matches of the Champions Trophy, the off-spinning maestro went searching for answers.