Despite a rich legacy of spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin’s numbers in Test cricket are jaw dropping for Indian cricket
R Ashwin’s current Test tally stands at 394 wickets. In other words, six wickets in the third Test match against England, at Motera, will make him the fourth Indian to bag 400 Test wickets, after Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, and Harbhajan Singh. Ashwin has a better average (25.20) and strike rate (53.4) compared to the other three. He also boasts of 29 five-wicket hauls and seven ten-fors. Only Kumble has bettered him in either aspect.
Additionally, if he gets them during the course of the third Test match – his 77th – he will become the second-quickest to the milestone, after Muttiah Muralitharan (72 Tests). In the first of his 76 Tests till date, back in 2011/12 against the West Indies, he had picked up nine wickets including six in the second innings.
India have a long history of producing world-class spinners. It started with Palwankar Baloo. By the 1950s, Ghulam Ahmed, Subhash Gupte, and Vinoo Mankad became a formidable trio. The spin quartet of the 1970s followed suit; and when they retired, Kumble and Harbhajan took over.
Despite such a rich legacy, none of them match the numbers of the current batch, led by Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. And of the two, Ashwin has been the more prolific wicket-taker by some distance.
Source: Twitter (ICC)
Ashwin’s performances outside the subcontinent have often been criticised. There is some merit in that, to be fair. In South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia combined (SENA countries, to use a popular acronym), his 63 wickets have come at an ordinary 40.11 apiece.
However, the numbers have looked up significantly since his stint with Worcestershire in 2017 (he had another, with Nottinghamshire, in 2019). Since he played for Worcestershire, Ashwin has picked up 39 wickets from 11 Test matches in SENA countries at under 30. The numbers tell the story.
Thus, while Jadeja and, for a brief period, Kuldeep Yadav, had kept Ashwin out of overseas Tests for some time, Ashwin has re-established himself as the lead spinner of the attack, and the sole spinner overseas. He had the upper hand against Steven Smith during India’s memorable win in Australia earlier this year.
The Australia tour also highlighted Ashwin’s other suit, when he battled a severe back pain for three and a half hours to save the Test match at Sydney. With 2,626 runs at 28.23 and five hundreds, Ashwin is set to finish as one of the most prolific all-rounders in the history of Test cricket. Along with Jadeja, he provides the balance that allows India to field five bowlers.
Motera has witnessed several milestones, from Sunil Gavaskar’s 10,000th Test run to Kapil Dev’s world record 432nd wicket to Sachin Tendulkar’s first double-hundred to Ishant Sharma’s 100th Test match. If Ashwin manages to record his 400th Test wicket, the revamped venue will add to its list of memorable moments in Indian cricket history.