As India gear’s 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 would be 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 love to continue the same in the upcoming series.
Ravichandran Ashwin who now stands on 490 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 test series.
Ravichandran Ashwin as an effective All Rounder
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 will be an impending threat on the English batters. Former Indian cricketer coach and now star commentator Ravi Shastri that the old and wise fox in Ravichandran Ashwin still is ripe with ideas and has many tricks up his sleeves against the English batters.
Ravi Shastri backs Ravichandran Ashwin to bamboozle England batters
Former Indian cricketer coach and now star commentator Ravi Shastri expects veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to play a pivotal role in the Men in Blue’s upcoming five-match home Test series against England. Shastri suggested that England should be ready for Ashwin, who will have many tricks up his sleeve. The cricketer-turned-commentator also cracked a joke about the seasoned campaigner’s new haircut.
During a chat on Jio Cinema, here’s what Shastri said about Ashwin:
“Ashwin just mentioned, I am going to get up do better. Now that he has had this haircut and his brain is free, with the air going through, now can you imagine what all he is thinking? There could be a ‘Theesra’, there could be a ‘Choutha’. England will find out very soon, in the next couple of months,”
Ravichandran Ashwin is currently ranked World No. 1 in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers. The crafty spinner has a fantastic record against England in red-ball cricket, having bagged 88 scalps from just 19 matches and would love to add more in his illustrious career in the upcoming series and future.
Ravi Shastri won the Lifetime Achievement award at the BCCI awards
Ravi Shastri won the CK Nayudu award for lifetime achievement at the BCCI awards on Tuesday, January 23, in Hyderabad.
Expressing his delight at receiving the prestigious award, Shastri recalled some of the most memorable moments of his playing career and coaching tenure. He said:
“It is a special evening for me. I think picking one would be difficult. But I will just go very quickly. You showed one that the 1985 final vs Pakistan was special in Melbourne. 1983 when India when the World Cup. But in commentary, 2007 when they won the T20 World Cup and 2011 when MS hit that ball for six. Two back-to-back wins in Australia. But the icing on the cake was the last day at the Gabba when Rishabh Pant took us past the finishing line.”
It is worth mentioning that, along with Ravi Shastri, former wicketkeeper-batter Farookh Engineer also received the CK Nayudu award (2019-2020) at the event. With India taking on England in the most anticipated series of the year it would be rather interesting to see how ace Indian off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin unleashes himself before the rampaging English batter and carry Rohit Sharma’s men to victory.