IND vs ENG, 5th Test: R Ashwin felicitated by coach Rahul Dravid on completing 100 Tests

DHARAMSHALA (Himachal Pradesh): Indian veteran spin-bowling allrounder Ravichandran Ashwin was felicitated by his head coach Rahul Dravid ahead of the fifth and final Test against England at Dharamsala on Thursday on the occasion of his 100th Test match.

India and England lock horns in the fifth and final Test of the series in Dharamshala from Thursday, which is Ashwin’s 100th Test as well. In 99 Tests so far, Ashwin has taken 507 wickets at an average of 23.91, including 35 five-wicket hauls, with the best bowling figures of 7/59. Combine it with his tally of 3,309 runs in 140 innings at an average of 26.14, with five centuries and 14 fifties and he is one of the most successful allrounders of the modern era.

Before the match, on the green fields of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), amid the beautiful and snowy mountains, Ashwin received a special cap meant to symbolise his 100th Test appearance, a privilege that only 13 Indians could get before him.

Now, he has joined the elite company of Sachin Tendulkar (200 Tests), Rahul Dravid (163 Tests), V V S Laxman (134 Tests), Anil Kumble (132 Tests), Kapil Dev (131 Tests), Sunil Gavaskar (125 Tests), Dilip Vengesarkar (116 Tests), Saurav Ganguly and Virat Kohli (113 Tests), Ishant Sharma (105 Tests), Cheteshwar Pujara, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag (103 Tests) in the elite company of Indian players having made a century of matches in white coloured clothing.

Present with Ashwin during the felicitation ceremony was his wife Prithi and his children, who were also really happy to see the Indian legend receive this special honour of playing a century of Tests for the Asian giants.

Following this, a special guard of honour was also given to Ashwin by his teammates as they took to the field for the match.

England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first during the fifth and final Test against India at Dharamsala’s Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium on Thursday.

India has already won the series 3-1. England, having lost their first series under skipper Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum’s leadership, are playing for their pride. Despite the series being decided, there are valuable 12 ICC World Test Championship points up for grabs. This is also the 100th Test match for Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin and England batter Jonny Bairstow.

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

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah. (ANI)