As India geared up for their first test series in 2024 at home soil versus the Bazball infused England team from 25th January 2024 in conquest to the top spot in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 table , all eyes were on experienced and veteran offspinner of India Ravichandran Ashwin. Indian ace off spinner on home pitches Ravichandran Ashwin has an impeccable record versus England and would had loved to continue the same in the upcoming series.
Ravichandran Ashwin who now stands on 499 wickets is set to become second Indian spinner after legendary Anil Kumble (619 wickets) to become the second Indian spinner who will surpass 500 wickets mark in the upcoming match at Rajkot whenever he captures his first scalp in the third test match.
However since the first test which India lost till date in the ongoing second test Ravichandran Ashwin until the last day has not been able to stamp his authority over rampaging English batters in conditions where unlikely the previous tours pitches were even for both batter and bowlers.
As England newbie spinners Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed are amongst top wicket takers in the series it is to surprise that Indian top wicket taker is a fast bowler in Jasprit Bumrah with 12 wickets so far not Ravichandran Ashwin who has got 7 wickets till date in the series.
Ravichandran Ashwin – The Allrounder India missed.
Meanwhile a potential all rounder at number 8, Ravichandran Ashwin who started his first class and school age cricket as an opening batter for his home team TamilNadu, is no geek with the bat having an average of 23.69 in tests with a strike rate of 51.48 inclusive of 5 test centuries out of which one came in the last series versus the Englishmen at home in Chennai where he and the other century man Rohit Sharma on a sluggish Chennai wicket helped India won a match.
With the ball on Indian pitches versus any opposition over a decade now Ashwin has been a threat since his test debut in 2011 having taken over the mantle of Indian spin legacy from the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh successfully. His bowling figures at home stands an impressive at 337 wickets from 55 matches only with a best of 7 for 59 inclusive of 26 five wickets haul and 6 ten wickets hauls in both innings of a test match.
Ashwin has an impeccable record versus the Englishmen at home and away and in this series requires just eight more wickets to become India’s leading wicket taker versus England in tests. In this series where records would galore for Ravichandran Ashwin, he could be the only second bowler to complete 100 wickets in India -England tests after James Anderson(139 wickets).
Also Ashwin requires only 13 wickets to complete 350 test wickets at home. In the process Ashwin can also become second Indian bowler after Anil Kumble (895) to deliver 600 maiden overs in Tests in India . With so many records in sight it is evident that Ravichandran Ashwin was supposed to be an be an impending threat on the English batters.
Saying so , In the second test match vs England at Vizag Ashwin went wicketless in the first innings as Bumrah’s 6-45 run riot through the English batting line up. However the offspinner garnered some confidence as he scored 29 runs in India’s second innings to help India reach an healthy lead and set England a task of scoring 399 runs to win a test match. English openers started on a brighter side racing to 50 runs in no time. However Ashwin provided the late breakthrough capturing Ben Duckett to give India hopes on Day 4 to give India victory.
As the game progressed on Day 4 , Ravichandran Ashwin did provide the vital breakthroughs of the wickets of Ollie Pope and Joe Root to take India closer to the victory but somewhere it felt that Ravichandran Ashwin still has not got into his element of bowling as the wicket of Ollie Pope was due to the brilliant reflex catch held by Rohit Sharma in the slips and Joe Root for some uncanny reason got out himself trying to bash the ball.
As India won the test match by 106 runs , Ashwin was kept stranded on 499 wickets as his appeal for his 500th wicket against Tom Hartley was overturned and the Indian team for a brief moment didnt seemed pleased about it. Jasprit Bumrah finished the innings for England with yet another captivating spell and Ashwin with 499 wickets will have to wait till he gets his first wicket in Rajkot to reach the magical 500 mark.
Former English batter now Commentator Kevin Pietersen however felt that the Indian ace off spinner was nervous about the milestone for the whole of two test matches that has been played and has not risen to the peak of the performance as expected from him in the series as India’s premier go to bowler.
Ravichandran Ashwin was just chasing milestone- Kevin Pietersen
Former England batter Kevin Pietersen feels India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was chasing the monumental 500th Test wicket during the second Test in Vishakhapatnam. The 37-year-old endured a below-par outing despite India’s 106-run victory, taking only three wickets in the match. Ashwin did not pick up a single wicket in the first innings, conceding 61 runs in 12 overs.
However, he returned to form in the second innings with figures of 3/72 in 18 overs but went wicketless in his final 12 overs to remain stranded on 499 Test wickets. Speaking to the official broadcasters after the second Test, Pietersen believed chasing the 500-wicket milestone resulted in Ashwin’s sub-par outing in the second Test.
“Ashwin was just chasing milestone. That’s why he didn’t bowl as well as he could have bowled. He did get it right on occasions. I thought he was way more threatening bowling wider outside off-stump round the wicket. I think he bowled over the wicket way too much to the right-handers. He can change bowling over-bowling around-bowling over more,” said Kevin Pietersen.
Despite not being at his best, Ashwin picked up three of the first four wickets in England’s run chase, including the crucial scalps of Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Joe Root. He seemed to have picked up his 500th wicket when Tom Hartley was adjudged caught behind, only for DRS to overturn the decision.
Kevin Pietersen has faith that on reaching 500 wickets , Ravichandran Ashwin will be the different bowler all together.
Kevin Pietersen believed Ravichandran Ashwin would become relaxed and perform better once he picks up the next wicket to complete 500 Test wickets. The Tamil Nadu-born cricketer wasn’t at his usual best in the two Tests against England, claiming nine wickets at an average of 36.33.
“I’m certainly never going to say that he hasn’t got it or the England bowlers have found him out. He is a tremendous bowler and he’s got some big breakthroughs. It is about the team; it’s not about the individual. He will want one more wicket and when he gets that may you’ll see him a lot more relaxed, the shoulder drops and I can just now get on with the game,” said Pietersen.
Ashwin boasts a stellar record at home with 346 wickets in 57 Tests at a sensational average of 21.27, including 26 five-wicket hauls.
His tally of 499 wickets is ninth all-time in Tests and third among active cricketers behind only James Anderson and Nathan Lyon. As the series now tied at 1-1 and both the teams get a break of around 10 days with next match to be played at Rajkot on 15th February, Ravichandran Ashwin now can relax for few days and device a strategy to be the same old dangerous Ashwin with the ball in the upcoming 3 matches of the test series.