India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revived his Test career with a wonderful all-round performance to help India outplay Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs, and on the way he became the second highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket when he went past legendary Kapil Dev’s mark of 434 wickets.
Rohit Sharma praised the off-spinner after the match, saying, “Ashwin is the best off-spinner I have played with. That is my personal opinion. He bowls with so much variety and is so effective on pitches with a bit of help. I am so happy for his personal milestones and for me there is still a lot to come from him. His utility with the bat and providing useful runs down the order has always been crucial.” When the captain was asked why Ashwin has not been a regular in the XI in overseas Tests, Rohit said: “Sorry, I cannot comment on this as I was not part of the team nor was among the think-tank on the tours.”
Those hard times
Of late Ashwin’s career had seen a slump in form, more due to his inability to be as effective overseas as he is in home Test. During the tour of England last summer, he was not played in any of the four Test matches and then was ineffective in the three games in South Africa. But back on home soil, on a pitch that provided him assistance, Ashwin claimed six wickets for 96 runs in the match, and having begun the game on 430, he now has 436 wickets. Now he has only Anil Kumble ahead of him at 619 and is placed ninth in all-time list as India for the first time have three bowlers in the Top 10 wicket-takers in Test cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar congratulated the off-spinner, hailing his achievement. “Fantastic landmark, @ashwinravi99! To go past @therealkapildev paaji is an achievement in itself. The way you were going, it was only a matter of time. Wish you many more!” Tendulkar tweeted. Next in sight for Ashwin is South African pace bowler Dale Steyn, who ended his career with 439 wickets. He will get a chance to surpass Steyn in the second Test in Bangalore from March 12, a day-night game with pink ball.
His spin partner Ravindra Jadeja is also climbing the list of Indian wicket-takers in Test cricket. How effective he has been with the ball can be gauged from the fact that he now has on 241 wickets from 58 Tests, just one less than 242 from 58 games legendary leg-spinner Bhagwat Chandrasekhar ended his career with. Ahead of him among spinner are Bishen Bedi on 266, Harbhajan Singh on 417, Ashwin on 436 and Kumble on 619. Whenever Jadeja has got the opportunity to bowl in tandem with Ashwin they have proved a deadly combination especially in home conditions, where the pitches give them help in form of turn and bounce. The duo picked up 15 of the 20 wickets in the match to spell the Sri Lankan doom inside three days.
Captain’s backing
How far up the list, Jadeja and Ashwin can climb will be interesting to see, as the spin duo have a bit of cricket left in him and with skipper Rohit showing plenty of confidence in them, the spin twin can have a bit of a successful run in the remaining part of their career.
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