Veteran India Non-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has replaced his teammate and vice-captain jasprit bumrah in the latest update to the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings. Ashwin dethroned Bumrah from the top spot after his sensational performance in the 5-match Test series against England where the hosts recorded a dominant 4-1 win with their innings and 62 runs in Dharamshala.
Ravichandran Ashwin had more than a successful series against England as the veteran eclipsed several records. He first completed 500 Test wickets when India registered their biggest red-ball win by 434 runs at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s successful Test series against England
Then in the fifth Test, Ravichandran Ashwin became the 14th Indian to play 100 Test matches when the fifth Test took place at the HPCA Stadium. He kept his best performance saved for the last Test, as he took 9 wickets in total, a 4-wicket haul in the first innings and then a 5-wicket haul in the next.
But all of that also had an accumulation. Ravichandran Ashwin 3/68 and 3/126 in the first Test at Hyderabad where India suffered a 28-run defeat and the defeat served as a good platform for the hosts to fight back. Rohit Sharma’s team started their retaliation from the second Test in Vishakhapatnam where the hosts had a couple of brilliant individual players.
It started with Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden double century in the first innings, then Jasprit Bumrah’s six-wicket haul immediately after India’s innings before Shubman Gill ended his drought with an emphatic century. Bumrah followed up his 6 wickets with another 3, while Ravichandran Ashwin, after remaining calm in the first innings, registered 3 in the next innings.
In the third Test, Ashwin was just one wicket away from entering the 500 club, which he achieved by taking the wicket of English opener Zak Crawley on Day 2. However, an unexpected turn of events saw Ashwin temporarily withdraw from the match due to a medical emergency in his family, but returned just in time for India’s second innings with the ball. He wrapped up the Rajkot Test in style, making Tom Hartley his 501st scalp in Test cricket.
Then at Ranchi, Ashwin had another quiet first innings claiming just 1 wicket but his spell in the second innings proved to be a turning point. After being handed the new ball by Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin returned with figures of 5/51 from 13 overs, restricting England to a target of just 192 which India completed even after losing 5 wickets.
In the fifth and final Test of the series at Dharamshala, Ravichandran Ashwin’s 100th, the veteran claimed first 4 and then 5 to return with match figures of 9/128 and conclude the series as the highest wicket-taker with 26 wickets . And now, just a week after India won the 2024 Anthony De Mello Trophy against England, Ashwin has risen to the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings.
When will Ravichandran Ashwin return to cricket action?
After a successful winter series at home, Ravichandran Ashwin has his eyes set on having an exciting spring season as he joins Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2024 in the coming days. He will most likely be back in action when RR plays their first IPL match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on March 24.
