Ravichandran Ashwin has become the ninth player, and only the second Indian, to reach 500 Test wickets. After arriving in Rajkot on the second day, Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed England’s Zak Crawley in the last session. In his 98th Test, he became the second-fastest bowler to accomplish the feat.
Between 2008 and 2015, Ashwin took 90 wickets in 97 matches at an economy rate of 6.46 while playing for CSK. After that, he continued to play for Team India in various World Cups for T20I, ODI, and World Test Championships. Ashwin’s journey has been one of constant experimentation motivated by his desire to improve as a cricket player.
He stated that his “desire to excel” was what had remained constant when asked what had not changed. Nevertheless, Ashwin acknowledged that he came into the spotlight during his early IPL years with the Chennai Super Kings, where he was recognized for his ability to bowl in the powerplay.
I wanted to be a batter all along- Ravichandran Ashwin’s big revelation after completing 500 wickets in Tests
Ravichandran Ashwin claimed that the primary cause of his transformation into a spinner was his first Indian Premier League team, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). When speaking to media at the post-Day 2 press conference, the cricket player from Tamil Nadu said:
“I was an accidental spinner. I wanted to be a batter all along. Life gave me a chance. When I walked into the CSK dressing room, Muttiah Muralitharan didn’t want to bowl (with) the new ball and eventually, I got tossed the new ball,”
With Ben Duckett (133 off 118) and Joe Root (9 off 13) at the crease, England was 207/2 at stumps on Day 2. At the end of the first inning, the visitors were behind by 238 runs.
India scored 445 runs in their first inning while batting first. Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, scored 131 (196), and Ravindra Jadeja scored 112 (225). Dhruv Jurel and debutant Sarfaraz Khan also contributed, scoring 46 (104) and 62 (66), respectively. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin added a late flourish with scores of 26 (28) and 37 (89), respectively.
England’s top bowler, Mark Wood, returned with figures of 4/114, while Rehan Ahmed claimed two wickets.