Returning from back injury, straightaway bowling in excess of 69 overs in a Test match and snaring nine wickets, Ravichandran Ashwin once again proved what an asset he is for Team India.
The senior off-spinner also entered a special group on Monday, being only the third spinner to take a wicket off the first ball of a Test innings.
For someone who works tirelessly for his team in the game’s longest format regardless of conditions being spinner-friendly or not, it’s his love for bowling that keeps Ashwin, 34, going. And as for injuries, they are “the last thing” on his mind.
“For me, part and parcel of my cricketing days was bowling 40-45 overs a day and going back to the nets and bowling again. While bowling, the joy that I have even when some parts of my body are not responding properly is just unmatched.
“My body today was fresh again when I came out to bat and I would think I would like to keep bowling as long as I feel,” Ashwin said after the fourth day’s play in Chennai.
Ashwin also heaped praise on Ishant Sharma, who took his 300th Test wicket on Monday. “I wish he gets to 400 and sets a roadmap for future India quicks,” Ashwin said.
Just as the Chepauk wicket looked to be deteriorating on the penultimate day, Ashwin responded brilliantly to the team’s call and picked up a six-for to restrict England to 178. The pitch obviously isn’t as flat as it seemed on the first two days of this Test, but Ashwin has faith in his team.
“When I saw the wicket, I believed it would be a good one to bat, though I thought it might do a little more than what it did on Day I. But it was really flat and the toss too was crucial.
“I still feel we fought back really well through the course of the day on Day III and even today we fought back. So if we can keep doing the same tomorrow, we can definitely finish well in this Test,” said Ashwin, who is now 14 short of bagging 400 Test wickets.
Stat-o-sphere
Ravichandran Ashwin claimed the 28th five-wicket haul of his Test career on Monday. Indians with most five-wicket hauls in Tests are…
- 35 — Anil Kumble (132 Tests)
- 28 — Ravichandran Ashwin (75)
- 25 — Harbhajan Singh (103)
- 23 — Kapil Dev (131)
- Ashwin has now dismissed Ben Stokes 8 times in Tests. Ashwin, who usually does well against left-handed batsmen, has dismissed David Warner 10 times in Tests.
- Washington Sundar, with his knock of 85 n.o., joined the list of Indians with 50-plus scores in debut Tests both home and away. The others are Rusi Modi, Surinder Amarnath, Arun Lal, Sourav Ganguly, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya & Mayank Agarwal.
- Most wickets to fall in a day in any Chepauk Test: 15. The first time it happened was on January 14, 1979, the 3rd day of the India-WI Test. The break-up of those 15 wickets were: India — 5, WI — 10. On Monday too, 15 wickets fell in the India-England Test, with 5 of them being of the hosts’ and 10 of the visitors.
Our Bureau & Mohandas Menon
India vs England
England: 1st innings 578
India: 1st innings (overnight 257/6)
W. Sundar not out 85
R. Ashwin c Buttler b Leach 31
S. Nadeem c Stokes b Leach 0
I. Sharma c Pope b Anderson 4
J. Bumrah c Stokes b Anderson 0
Extras: (b-4, lb-1, nb-1) 6
Total: (all out, 95.5 overs) 337
Fall of wickets: 7/305, 8/312, 9/323
Bowling: Anderson 16.5-5-46-2, Archer 21-3-75-2 Stokes 6-1-16-0, Leach 24-5-105-2, Bess 26-5-76-4, Root 2-0-14-0
England: 2nd innings
R. Burns c Rahane b Ashwin 0
D. Sibley c Pujara b Ashwin 16
D. Lawrence lbw Ishant 18
J. Root lbw Bumrah 40
B. Stokes c Pant b Ashwin 7
O. Pope c Rohit b Nadeem 28
J. Buttler st Pant b Nadeem 24
D. Bess lbw Ashwin 25
J. Archer b Ashwin 5
J. Leach not out 8
J. Anderson c & b Ashwin 0
Extras: (nb-7) 7
Total: (all out, 46.3 overs) 178
Fall of wickets: 1/0, 2/32, 3/58, 4/71, 5/101, 6/130, 7/165, 8/167, 9/178
Bowling: Ashwin 17.3-2-61-6, Nadeem 15-2-66-2, Ishant 7-1-24-1, Bumrah 6-0-26-1, Sundar 1-0-1-0
India: 2nd innings
R. Sharma b Leach 12
S. Gill batting 15
C. Pujara batting 12
Total: (1 wicket, 13 overs) 39
Fall of wicket: 1/25
Bowling: Archer 3-2-13-0, Leach 6-1-21-1, Anderson 2-1-2-0, Bess 2-0-3-0
