India’s ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin carried on his good form and took yet another five-for in his illustrious Test career. On a pitch that offered assistance to spinners, Ashwin bowled consistent lines and displayed his wide variety of variations to unsettle the Kiwi batters.
It took Ashwin some time to take his firs wicket of the match, but after he got his name on the board, he just ran through New Zealand’s batting order. He spun the ball both ways and the Kiwi batters had no or very little answer to his brilliant spin bowling.
Ashwin became the third fastest bowler in Test cricket history to take 20 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket. Ashwin is playing only his 39th Test match and he has already taken 20 five-wicket hauls. It’s a fantastic achievement as many good bowlers don’t have 20 five-wicket hauls in their career and Ashwin, who is just 39 Test matches old has already achieved this glorious feat. Watch the video here:
VIDEO: Ravichandran Ashwin’s 20th five-wicket haul in Test cricket
https://www.facebook.com/IndianCricketTeam/posts/1247615475260143
Many cricket analysts and former cricketers believe that Ashwin will break many records in his career. He is a very skilful bowler and his record on sub-continent pitches is nothing short of extraordinary. He has many variations up his sleeves and he uses them brilliantly with brilliant control over his line and length. If we talk about variations, Ashwin, arguably, has the most number of variations in international cricket. From carrom ball to leg-spinner, Ashwin can outsmart the batsman with more than 5 different deliveries in one over.
The lists shared below will how much glory Ravichandran Ashwin has achieved in his short career so far:
Least Tests to take 20 five-wicket hauls
Tests | Bowler |
25 | Syd Barnes (Eng) |
37 | Clarrie Grimmett (Aus) |
39 | R Ashwin (Ind) |
51 | Waqar Younis (Pak) |
54 | Ian Botham (Eng) |
Most five-wicket hauls in Tests for India
5WI | Tests | Tests / 5WI | |
Anil Kumble | 35 | 132 | 3.77 |
Harbhajan Singh | 25 | 103 | 4.12 |
Kapil Dev | 23 | 131 | 5.70 |
R Ashwin | 20 | 39 | 1.95 |
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