ROSEAU (Dominica): Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continued his monstrous run against West Indies, becoming the bowler with the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket among all active players. Ashwin accomplished this feat during India’s first Test against West Indies at Dominica.
After missing the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 final against Australia earlier in June, Ashwin made an impactful return in India’s first match of the new 2023-25 WTC cycle. He took 5/60 in 24.3 overs at an economy rate of 2.44. He dismissed skipper Kraigg Braithwaite, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Alick Athanaze, Jason Holder and Jomel Warrican.
Now, Ashwin has overtaken England pacer James Anderson to become the player with the most five-wicket hauls among active ones. He now has 33 five-wicket hauls in the longer format, as compared to Anderson’s 32.
Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralidaran has the most five-wicket hauls in Test history, with a total of 67. He is followed by late Australian spin legend Shane Warne (37), former New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee (36), India’s Anil Kumble (35), Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (34) and then Ashwin.
Ashwin has a total of five five-wicket hauls against the Windies in Test cricket and he sits next to former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh (5) and former WI bowling great Malcolm Marshall (6) when it comes to having the most five-wicket hauls in India-West Indies Tests.
The 36-year-old has three five-wicket hauls in West Indies, the most by an Indian bowler in the Caribbean. Notably, Subhash Gupte, Kumble, Harbhajan and Ishant Sharma also have three fifers in West Indies.
Ashwin also completed his 700 international wickets during the match. In 271 matches, he has taken 702 wickets at an average of 25.83, with best figures of 7/59. He has 33 fifers and seven 10-wicket hauls in international cricket. He has taken 479 wickets in 93 Test matches for India with best figures of 7/59. He also has 151 ODI wickets in 113 matches with the best figures of 4/59. The spin veteran has 72 wickets in 65 T20Is, with best figures of 4/8.
He is the 16th most successful bowler in international cricket, with most successful being Muralidaran (1,347 wickets). He is also the third most successful bowler for India, with Kumble being the best bowler with 956 international scalps. He is also the fifth-most successful spin bowler of all-time.
The all-rounder in Ashwin becomes lethal against West Indies and he has a solid record against the side. In 12 Tests, he has taken 65 wickets against the Windies at an average of 21.97, with best figures of 7/83. He has also scored 552 runs against them in 12 matches, across 12 innings at an average of 50.18. He has scored four of his five Test centuries against West Indies.
Ashwin also became the first Indian bowler to dismiss both father and son in Test cricket. Ashwin achieved the record by getting the wicket of Tagnarine Chanderpaul at 12 (44). He had previously taken the wicket of Tagnarine’s father and West Indian legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Apart from Ashwin, Ian Botham also made it to the list, dismissing father-son pair Lance and Chris Cairns. Pakistani pacer Wasim Akram also took the wicket of the same pair in his career. Australian bowlers Mitchell Starc and Simon Harmer have also taken the wickets of Shivnarine and Tagnarine Chanderpaul.
Coming to the match, West Indies opted to bat first and were bundled out for 150 in their first innings. Athanaze (47) and skipper Braithwaite (20) were the only ones who could contribute something decent to the scoreboard.
Ashwin’s fifer and Ravindra Jadeja’s figures of 3/26 were the standouts in the Indian bowling charts. India ended the first day at 80/0, with skipper Rohit Sharma (30*) and debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal (40*) unbeaten.
Ravichandran Ashwin dominated the first session of Day One by taking two wickets in the opening test match against West Indies in Dominica. This played a major role in hosts’s downfall as West Indies bundled out on a score of 150. In reply to the hosts’ total, India’s openers started the innings on a positive note.
Despite a couple of early LBW shouts against Rohit, India’s opening stand didn’t face issues in the third session. Yashasvi Jaiswal took his time to open his account, but as soon as he adjusted himself to the pitch conditions, he started to take on the bowlers with confidence.
He opened his account with a beautifully executed shot to find the fence for a four. He tried to find the boundary once again with another shot but the fielder denied him to claim back-to-back boundaries.
Rohit on the other hand looked confident with his shot selection and defensive approach for the majority of the third session.
West Indies bowlers, on the other hand, struggled to find consistency in their line and length. This became evident after their review for an LBW appeal against Rohit Sharma was denied by the umpire’s call. Both players will be keen to convert their ominous starts into big scores on Day 2. (ANI)