Regarding Ravichandran Ashwin‘s outstanding performance on Day 3 of the Ranchi Test, former Indian cricketer RP Singh has nothing but admiration for him. Sunday, February 25, saw the seasoned off-spinner take his 35th five-wicket haul, leading the England batters to their doom in the second inning.
On Day 3, Sunday, February 25, India thrashed England for 145 runs in their second innings courtesy of Ashwin’s 5/51 figures in 15.5 overs. After their second inning, the hosts finished the day at 40 for no loss, requiring 152 more runs to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
In England’s first innings, Akash Deep claimed three wickets with the new ball. But in the second inning, Rohit chose to go on the attack with Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin. The strategy paid off nicely, as the off-spinner put the visitors on the back foot by dismissing Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope off consecutive deliveries in his third over.
“You cannot keep Ravichandran Ashwin out of the game for too long” – RP Singh
Ashwin elegantly silenced the doubters after facing backlash for failing to make the necessary impact in the first two Test matches of the series. In the current Test match, most of England’s top-order batsmen gave to the face of India’s spin attack, which included Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav.
Ravichandran Ashwin was commended by RP Singh during a Colors Cineplex discussion for his performance after a disappointing start to the series. He explained:
“R Ashwin wasn’t having a good series in terms of his bowling performances but we knew that you cannot keep Ashwin out of the game for too long. He will have an impact and he made an impact here. We needed wicket-taking bowling here and Ashwin did that.”
The former pacer for India expressed appreciation to Rohit Sharma for using the cunning spinner with the new ball.
“I thought they would get the fast bowlers to bowl at the start but the captain took the right call in getting Ashwin to bowl. The important thing is to get wickets and for that, to create circumstances and to read the wicket. The captain did all of that and Ashwin lived up to that,” Singh added.
“That was a big wicket” – RP Singh on Ravichandran Ashwin’s dismissal of the Joe Root
Following Ashwin’s consecutive dismissals of Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett, along with Joe Root’s significant wicket, the Indian spinners launched their onslaught. After removing England captain Ben Stokes, Kuldeep Yadav joined the attack, and Jadeja dismissed Jonny Bairstow.
Joe Root’s dismissal by Ravichandran Ashwin was hailed by RP Singh as an important breakthrough.
“He bowled well and was slightly lucky as well in getting wickets. He dismissed Ben Duckett, that was a good ball. Joe Root was a big wicket. It is a skill to bowl around the wickets and make the ball pitch in line, which would have then gone on to hit the stumps,” he stated.
The former cricket player who is now a broadcaster said that the experienced spinner dismissed the former England captain with brilliant usage of the around-the-wicket angle.
“He used the angle in such a way that the ball fell in that strip and you got success. So it was fantastic bowling. A big-match player gave a good performance at an important time,” Singh elaborated.
Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Root were all dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin, bringing England down to 65/3. Later, to complete his five-wicket haul, the most successful test bowler on Indian soil claimed the wickets of Ben Foakes and James Anderson.
Day 3 stumps saw India 40 runs into the chase with their opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma still holding firm at the crease.