An art that was long forgotten in the popularity of the same has been newly romanticized by the Indian off-spinner who wreaked havoc through the English and the Australian batting line-ups recently, Ravichandran Ashwin.
The man who is now fourth in the ranks of the highest Indian wicket-taker in the longest format of the sport will be hurling himself for the 400th wicket in the ongoing series against England. Currently, behind Harbhajan Singh, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble, Ashwin has already been shattering milestones in terms of being the fastest cricketer to achieve the benchmarks.
Today in this celebratory post about the legendary Indian off-spinner, we will be looking at all the five-wicket hauls that Ashwin has scalped in the longest format of the sport.
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6-23 versus West Indies, 3rd innings, Delhi Test
On his very debut Test, Ashwin chronicled a fiver in the third innings that crumbled West Indies to dust. After picking up 3 wickets in the first that comprised the likes of Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels and Ravi Rampaul, he breathed fire in the next. His onslaught started with Kieron Powell which was followed by two scorchers that claimed Darren Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. The next two men to return to the Caribbean hut were Marlon Samuels who was castled by an absolute pearler and Ravi Rampaul. After a batting collapse in the first innings from India, it was Ashwin’s fiver that helped India stage a comeback against the visitors.
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5-156 versus West Indies, 1st innings, Mumbai Test
India had a hard time bowling out the visitors as resolute showdowns from the top five in the first innings helped West Indies reach a formidable score. Despite the slam from the Caribbean batters, India managed to stay afloat, thanks to Ashwin who was able to scalp the important wickets of Adrian Barath, Kraigg Braithwaite, Marlon Samuels, Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo. Even in the second innings, he managed to pick up four wickets that left West Indies tumbling and staggering that almost gifted India the game if not for a run-out on the last ball of the day.
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6-31 versus New Zealand, 2nd innings, Hyderabad Test
This was an iconic showdown from the Indian off-spinner as he left a smoking trail of carnage in both the innings that left the Kiwis devastated, humiliated and thrashed emphatically. After India posted 438 in the first innings, Ashwin claimed six crucial scalps in the first innings leaving New Zealand charred in his wake. He started his onslaught with Martin Guptill and followed it up with Ross Taylor, Daniel Flynn, Jeetan Patel, Trent Boult and finally Chris Martin. This onslaught from the chivalrous killer in the Indian echelons left New Zealand skittled out for a paltry 159.
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6-54 versus New Zealand, 3rd innings, Hyderabad Test
After a resplendent showdown in the first innings, Ashwin came back in an even more menacing fashion that left the Black Caps agonized in the most brutal fashion. This time the veteran Indian offie was a bit late to arrive at the party as his scalps started with Ross Taylor and then kept coming like a flash flood that deracinated the likes of Daniel Flynn, James Franklin, Kruger Van Wyk, Trent Boult and Chris Martin, leaving the visitors humiliated as India imposed a resonating victory by an innings and 115 runs.
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5-69 versus New Zealand, 3rd innings, Bengaluru Test
This series was one of the most rampaging outings which were done by Ashwin, to say the least. After brutalizing New Zealand in the second Test, he came back haunting the visitors again in the third Test. Just as New Zealand was reprieved to give only one wicket in the first innings and thought that they may very well have out the ghost behind their past, Ashwin appeared again as one of the intimidating apparitions of himself claiming the scalps of Kane Williamson, Daniel Flynn, James Franklin, Kruger Van Wyk and Tim Southee to skittle the Kiwis out for a paltry 248, giving India an easy target to chase in the second innings.
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7-103 versus Australia, 1st innings, Chennai Test
The home ground has always been special to Ashwin as the off-spinner ran amok through the Australian batting line-up that left them deprived of a leading resistance despite sparks of brilliance from Michael Clarke and Moises Henriques. Ashwin started his hunt with Ed Cowan and followed it up with David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Matthew Wade, Moises Henriques and Nathan Lyon.
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5-95 versus Australia, 3rd innings, Chennai Test
It was a renowned notion at that point in time that Ashwin usually loved to haunt his fivers in pairs and he justified this belief in significant fashion as he haunted Australia in their second innings too that made life a lot easier for India to win the game. In the second innings, he once again managed to scalp Ed Cowan, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc, crumbling Australia to dust that saw them garnering only 241 runs in the second innings.
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5-36 versus Australia, 3rd innings, Hyderabad Test
Despite Ashwin not being able to make inroads in the first innings, the second innings was another exemplary show of class from the off-spinner. With Australia being set a mammoth total in the first innings to overcome, they were tamed by a soaring Ashwin who managed to claim the scalps of David Warner, Philip Hughes, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell and James Pattinson. This left Australia devastated and humiliated as India managed to wring out an easy victory.
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5-57 versus Australia, 1st innings, Delhi Test
In this series, Australia was not up against a steely Indian side but their major contest happened with Ravichandran Ashwin who couldn’t simply resist hurting the visitors. In the capital of India, Ashwin started his fiver dance in the first innings by picking up Ed Cowan and then followed it up with Steven Smith, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle. India again managed to have a walk in the park as Ravindra Jadeja left the visitors terrorized in the following innings.
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6-46 versus Sri Lanka, 1st innings, Galle Test
India stunned the visitors as Ashwin took out the sting of the Sri Lankan batting in the first innings as he bowled a spectacular spell, claiming the crucial likes of Thirimanne, Sangakkara, Mathews, Jehan Mubarak, Dhamika Prasad and Rangana Herath. Despite a decent show in the first innings, Indian batters crumbled miserably in the second innings to hand over a victory to Sri Lanka.
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5-51 versus South Africa, 2nd innings, Mohali Test
After a sudden crumble from the Indian batters in the first innings, it was Ravi Ashwin who saved the day for the hosts by putting in a phenomenal performance. He managed a 5-wicket haul to snuff out South Africa for a modest 184. The victims to his magical spin included the likes of Dean Elgar, Stiann van Zyl, Hashim Amla, Dane Vilas and Imran Tahir. It was on the back of Ashwin and Jadeja’s combined efforts that left South Africa skittled out before they could reach the coveted line.
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5-32 versus South Africa, 2nd innings, Nagpur Test
Another woeful batting display from the Indians needed a masterstroke from an Indian bowler to help them fight back in this closely-contested encounter. It was Ashwin who once again came to the deliverance of India as he managed to claim a fiver, leaving the visitors terrorized. His exploits in the first innings of South Africa included Dean Elgar, van Zyl, Hashim Amla, Simon Harmer and Morne Morkel.
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7-66 versus South Africa, 4th innings, Nagpur Test
Things didn’t get any better for India in the second innings with another batting meltdown. However, the Indian offie was up to the task of hammering the Rainbow Nation in equal measures as after a fiver in the first innings, he picked up seven wickets in the second innings. He claimed the prized scalps of Elgar, van Zyl, de Villiers, Duminy, Vilas, Rabada and Morne Morkel, handing over an impressive victory to India.
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7-83 versus West Indies, 3rd innings, North Sound Test
After a herculean effort from Ashwin with the bat that saw him smashing an incredible ton, he came back even stronger with the ball in the final innings of the Test match. He claimed seven wickets in the second innings of the West Indies as the Islanders were made to follow on. He picked the imperative likes of Rajendra Chandrika, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Blackwood, Roston Chase, Holder, Devendra Bishoo and Shannon Gabriel.
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5-52 versus West Indies, 1st innings, Kingston Test
It was a scintillating show from Ravichandran Ashwin in the first innings against the hosts that left them reeling in unmitigated agony. He started his onslaught with the wicket of Marlon Samuels and then continued his carnage with Blackwood, Dorwich, Holder and Bishoo. The hosts somehow managed to save the game after a staunch display of batting in the second innings.
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6-132 versus New Zealand, 4th innings, Kanpur Test
The game seemed closely contested until the third innings kicked off where India displayed some scintillating batting flair to deny the Kiwis a free walk in the park. Things went downhill from there for the visitors as Ashwin sliced in a power-packed punch with a brilliant 6 wicket haul. He scalped tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner to punish the visitors in the most excruciating ways.
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6-81 versus New Zealand, 2nd innings, Indore Test
A masterclass from Ashwin in both the innings with the cherry in his hand saw India imposing a towering defeat on the Black Caps. In the first innings, he got rid of the likes of Latham, Williamson, Ross Taylor, Luke Ronchi, James Neesham and Trent Boult. This left New Zealand skittled out for a modest 299.
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7-59 versus New Zealand, 4th innings, Indore Test
Ashwin came down the pike in the second innings in his most unplayable avatar as he wreaked havoc of the highest order in the Kiwi ranks. He picked up seven wickets in the 4th innings that saw him polishing off the visitors once and for all. His victims included the likes of Williamson, Taylor, Ronchi, Santner, Jeetan Patel, Matt Henry and Trent Boult. In response to the target of 475 runs, India took out New Zealand for only 153 runs.
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5-67 versus England, 2nd innings, Vishakapatnam Test
After a dominant display by India with the willow in the first innings, the English batters couldn’t really master the art of playing Ashwin and that cost them heftily. He picked up another sublime fiver that ravaged England’s finest and the victims were Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and James Anderson.
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6-112 versus England, 1st innings, Mumbai Test
As the English batters showed some boisterous batting pyrotechnics in the first innings, it was Ashwin who made inroads for India with a rock-solid performance claiming more than half of England’s side. He managed to pick up the wickets of Keaton Jennings, Root, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Jake Ball.
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6-55 versus England, 3rd innings, Mumbai Test
India’s rollicking batting display in their first innings left the visitors asking for a lot more and in the second innings, Ashwin didn’t really allow them the leeway to make any inroads towards glory. He started with his wicket-picking business right away and in the process got rid of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jake Ball, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and James Anderson, rampaging through the English batting line up once and for all.
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6-41 versus Australia, 4th innings, Bengaluru Test
India needed some extraterrestrial effort from one of their bowlers to restrict Australia before the threshold of 188 runs as that was the target. What eventually seemed easy for the visitors shortly flipped into a hellish nightmare as Ashwin started wreaking havoc of the finest order. He claimed six wickets in the final innings of the match that included the monikers of Warner, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon.
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5-69 versus Sri Lanka, 2nd innings, Colombo Test
After a commanding display of batting in the first innings, Ashwin did irreparable damage to the hosts. He managed to pick his 23rd fiver as he claimed the scalps of Dimuth Karunaratne, Tharanga, Angelo Matthews, Dilruwan Perera and Nuwan Pradeep.
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6-61 versus England, 3rd innings, Chennai Test
As England dictated terms ever since the match started, it was Ashwin’s inspiring performance that did imbue India with a handful of hopes. He claimed six wickets in England’s second innings that took out the scalps of Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Dom Bess, Jofra Archer and James Anderson. Unfortunately, the Indian batters could not live up to their buoyed names.
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5-43 versus England, 1ST innings, Chennai Test
In order to level terms with England in the return test at Chennai, Ashwin pumped in a five-star performance that saw him claiming an incredible fiver, leaving England rattled and hamstrung. In England’s first innings, Ashwin managed to claim the scalps of Dom Sibley, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone and Stuart Broad.
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7-145 versus South Africa, 2nd innings, Vishakapatnam Test
There may now be a chronological disorder due to chaotic research from my end. However, the fivers must be encompassed nevertheless. South Africa stuttered badly in the first innings as Ashwin rampaged through the Proteas batting order as he claimed the important scalps of Markram, de Bruyn, du Plessis, de Kock, Philander, Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada.
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5-61 versus South Africa, 4th innings, Delhi Test
Another skipped Test where Ashwin produced a stellar display with the cherry in his hand was against the Proteas. He wrung out an incredible fiver that scalped the likes of Elgar, Bavuma, de Villiers, Duminy and Morne Morkel, imposing a mammoth defeat upon the visitors.
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5-42 versus Sri Lanka, 4th innings, Colombo Test
This was another outing of pomp and vigour from the veteran Indian offie that derailed the Sri Lankan aspirations without any ado. He picked up the big wickets of Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne and Dhamika Prasad helping India to clinch a massive victory over Sri Lanka.
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5-87 versus Bangladesh, 2nd innings, Fatullah Test
This is the last gem in the story of Ashwin’s emergence from the very ashes of chivalry that sets him aside from other cricketers. This was another five-star performance from the Indian off-spinner as he blazed the Bangladeshi batting line-up with a resounding performance against India’s closest neighbours. In the first innings of Bangladesh, they fell victim to the enigmatic spin of Ashwin who managed to claim the scintillating likes of Tamim Iqbal, Muhsfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das and Shuvagata Hom. This was the fabled rise of India’s most enigmatic off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin.
