Ravichandran Ashwin is the reason behind India’s dominance over Bangladesh in the first Test at Chepauk. He claimed a six-wicket haul on a red-soil pitch, matching the former Australian great Shane Warne's record of 37 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket. (More Cricket News)
Warne's record stood for 18 years, with his last five-wicket haul in December 2006. With this, Ashwin has moved into second place for the most five-wicket hauls, standing neck to neck with the Australian legend. The only bowler ahead of him and Shane is Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, who holds the record with 67 five-wicket hauls.
On Sunday, September 22, Ashwin’s figures of 6 for 88 led India to a commanding 280-run victory at M Chidambaram. The 38-year-old now has 522 Test wickets from 101 matches.
In the first innings, Ashwin remained wicketless but even then he showcased his all-round brilliance by scoring a century (113 runs). In the second innings, his bowling prowess came to the fore as he demolished the Bangladesh batters, who were chasing a daunting target of 515 runs, ultimately collapsing for just 234.
After the match, Ashwin shared insights on his six-wicket haul at Chepauk:
“Look, I think this pitch, even if you bowl good balls, you will go for runs. But the bounce is going to be quite daunting. The beauty about red soil is you put revs on it, there is value and there is bounce,” Ashwin told reporters in the post-match press meet.
“You play on some black clay surfaces around the country, and without naming them, you have to do a lot of hard work, put a lot of revs and see nothing come out of it.
Ashwin emphasized that understanding these nuances has been a significant learning process over the years
“So, to even understand all these, and talk about it is a fair amount of learning for me. It's happened over the years. Like I said, this one's got solid bounce. I will any day play on a surface like this and get hit than play on other surfaces,” he elaborated.
“The surfaces react very differently at different times of the year. We've lost a lot of red soil pitches over the years, which was a key component of playing Test cricket in India.”
Looking ahead, India has nine more Tests scheduled until June 2025, including a potential World Test Championship Final, which will test the Indian cricket team in various conditions. And, Ravichandran Ashwin is highly motivated to reinvent himself and stay prepared for every challenge.
(with PTI inputs)
