On Thursday morning in Dharamsala, R Ashwin became the 14th Indian player to feature in his 100th Test match as India took on England in the fifth and final Test of the series.
He got a commemorative cap from head coach Rahul Dravid ahead of the start of play, and then the Team India players gave him a guard of honor.
After receiving the guard of honor from the players, R Ashwin even marched the team into the field as England captain Ben Stokes had won the toss and elected to bat first.
First, after the toss, the players and staff stood in line to give a tribute to the champion off-spinner who had earlier in this series snapped his 500th Test wicket and his 35th Test five-for. Only Muthiah Muralidaran, Shane Warne, and Richard Hadlee have taken more Test five-fors than the Tamil Nadu offie.
Dravid gave Ashwin a cap. The off-spinner’s wife Prithi and their two daughters were with him. His parents couldn’t come because his mother is not well.
Then R Ashwin was asked to wait as the players formed a guard of honor – two separate parallel lines and he walked in between them. He shook captain Rohit Sharma’s hand and hugged the skipper as the crowd stood up on their feet applauding the legendary cricketer.
Watch: R Ashwin gets a guard of honor from Team India players ahead of his 100th Test
💯 ✅
Ashwin getting a deserved guard of honour! 👏
📹 @MihirRavani#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/sVTPEFvJeU
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) March 7, 2024
At the toss, captain Rohit Sharma spoke a few words about Ashwin’s landmark achievement, something only 13 Indians before the off-spinner had achieved.
Rohit said: “Ash has been a real stalwart of Indian cricket. Such a proud moment for him, his nation and the family. We will be rooting for him to do the magic.”
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes(c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes(w), Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, Mark Wood, James Anderson
Also Read: IPL 2024: Top 3 Teams With The Best Spin Bowling Attacks
