An incredible, inimitable 14-year journey came to an end as Ravichandran Ashwin brought the curtains down on his international career. He did not wait till the end of the Australia tour to hang up his boots, retiring with immediate effect at the conclusion of the drawn third Test in Brisbane. (More Cricket News)
The man from Chennai was Indi✨a's go-to spinner at home in the red-ball format throughout his career, which is reflected in the fact that he featured in all 65 Tests played in India since his debut in 2011. No Indian players has been part of these many home Tests at a stretch, and England's Alistair Cook (83 consecutive home Tests) is the only one in the world to have done so.
With that🍨, let's take a look at 10 particularly striking sta🥃ts from Ashwin's career:
- Ashwin dismissed 268 left-handed batters in Test cricket, whi🦩ch is a world record.💜 On top of that, his average against left-handers in Tests is 19.84, only bettered by West Indies pace great Curtly Ambrose (18.59).
- The spin-bowling all-rounder sꦺcored a century and bagged a five-wicket haul in the same Test match on four occasions, which is second only to Ian Botham's five.
- At 50.7, Ashwin has the best strike rate among spinners in Test cricket, with Stuar⛦t MacGill the next best at a distant 54.0.
- His 37 five-wicket hauls in the red-ball format are the joint second most along with the late Shane Warne. While Ashwin played 106 Tests, Warne needed 145 Tests to notch up his figures. Muttiah Muralitharan tops the list with an astounding 67 five-fers in♎ 133 Tests.
- Ashwin has claimed 133 wickets wi❀th the first new ball (bowling in the first 20 overs), which is the most by a spinner in the history of Test cricket. He has done so at an average of 2🎃1.50 and a strike rate of 45.4.
♕- The Chennai man has secured 11 Player of the Series awards, which is the joint most in Tests alongside Muralitharan.
- His overall Test haul stands at 537 wickets, the second highest in India after Anil Kumble and the seventh highest overall after Muralitharan (800), Warne (708), J𝄹ames Anderson (704), Kumble (619), Stuart Broad (604) and Glenn McGrath (563).
- Having scalped 383 of his 537 Test ꧒wickets in India, Ashwin is fourth behind Muralitharan (493), Anderson (438) and Broad (398) in the ဣlist of most Test wickets taken at home.
- Ashwin made Ben Stokes his bun꧅ny, dismissing the England captain 13 times in Tests. ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚIt is the most number of times an Indian bowler has got any batter out in the format.
- The off-spinner has combined with Ravindra Jadeja to takꦯe a collective 587 wickets in 58 Tests, the most by a spin duo and the sixth most overall.
