India’s spin maestro, Ravichandran Ashwin, made a significant impact on the opening day of the Test match against the West Indies. After the hosts won the toss and opted to bat, Ashwin’s five-wicket haul helped India bowl them out for a mere 150 runs. Ashwin came out with a vengeance after being left out of the WTC final against Australia, and the Windies batters were left bewildered.
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The Windies openers survived the initial burst from Mohammed Siraj and Jaydev Unadkat, but Ashwin’s introduction turned the game around. He bowled a trademark off-spinner’s delivery to castle Tagenarine Chanderpaul and induced a false shot from Braithwaite’s bat. The rest of the Indian bowlers also contributed, with Ravindra Jadeja taking three wickets.
Ashwin returned to take the wickets of Alzarri Joseph and Alick Athanze before the tea interval .He completed his five-wicket haul in the post-tea session after Shubman Gill took a brilliant diving catch at short leg. Meanwhile, Indian openers were unfazed, and Yashasvi Jaiswal played a brilliant knock. This was not the first time that Ashwin performed admirably after getting dropped.
1st Test vs South Africa in Vishakapatnam, 2019
During the opening Test against South Africa in 2019, Ashwin’s wizardry with the ball was on full display. Despite being dropped from the playing XI in both Tests in the Caribbean Islands, Ashwin displayed his class and temperament on a relatively barren wicket at Vizag. India had set a massive target of 502 runs in their first innings, thanks to Mayank Agarwal’s double century and Rohit Sharma’s century. Ashwin began the slide for South Africa by taking the wickets of Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn.
South Africa was struggling, but their skipper, Dean Elgar, held the fort and shared a staggering partnership with Quinton de Kock. Ashwin broke the partnership and played a pivotal role in bowling them out for 431, finishing with figures of 7/145 in the first innings. His exploits in the first innings were enough to hand India a comfortable victory by 203 runs, even though he only managed to take one more wicket in the second innings.
1st Test vs Australia in Adelaide, 2020
Ashwin, the leading wicket-taker, had to bear the brunt of being dropped due to the team’s combination for overseas conditions. Ashwin was dropped from the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington in 2020 because the team management felt that it was better to play Jadeja, who was a better batter. India lost the series 0-2. Ashwin didn’t disappoint in his first match at the Adelaide Oval when India was scheduled to tour Australia next. He bagged four crucial wickets, including Steve Smith and Travis Head. India suffered a heartbreaking defeat despite Ashwin’s figures of 4/55 when they got bowled out for 36 runs in the second innings.
3 1st Test vs New Zealand in Kanpur, 2021
Ashwin has been India’s standout performer in home conditions and has hardly been dropped in subcontinental conditions. Ashwin’s record proves what he brings to the table when the pitch is assisting the spinners. Despite making a mark on the previous tour with regular wickets, he warmed the benches for all four Tests of the England tour in 2021, and the think tank and Virat Kohli were criticized by cricketing pundits for not playing him. The final Test of the series was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. In November, New Zealand toured India, and Ashwin showed his class again. In the first Test at Kanpur, he bagged three wickets each in the two innings, and India narrowly missed out on a victory.
