R Ashwin – One of the All-Time Greats
Ravichandran Ashwin came into the limelight as a T20 bowler who could bowl the carrom ball with impressive control. That skill and a sound temperament allowed him to establish himself quickly in a champion Chennai team that won the Indian T20 League two years in succession. Those displays caught the eye of the national selectors and it wasn’t long before he was a regular in every format for India.
But as Ashwin took the world of Test cricket by storm, taking 5-wicket hauls and scoring hundreds, his T20 performances started to dip. He was no longer as effective as he had been in those two title-winning seasons with Chennai. A Champions Trophy win in 2013 was followed by individual honors in 2016, when his 72 wickets for the year won him both ICC Test Cricketer of the Year and Cricketer of the Year honors.
In the Indian T20 League, he has never managed to scale the heights he did with Chennai before he became a star for India. What he can look forward to, though, is the possibility of a third Indian T20 League winner’s medal with his new side Rajasthan, who bought him for ₹5 crores at the 2022 mega auction.
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R Ashwin’s Personal Details
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- Name
- :
- Ravichandran Ashwin
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- Date of Birth
- :
- 17th September 1986
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- Birthplace
- :
- Chennai
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- Height
- :
- 6′2″
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- Bowling Style
- :
- Right-arm off-break
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- Playing Role
- :
- Bowler
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- Current Team
- :
- India Cricket Team, Rajasthan team
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- Jersey Number
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- 99
R Ashwin’s Current Rankings
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T20 30
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ODI --
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Test 1
R Ashwin Career Summary
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- Format
- M
- Wickets
- Best Bowling
- Avg
- SR
- ER
-
- Test
- 92
- 474
- 7/59 vs NZ
- 23.93
- 51.84
- 2.77
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- ODI
- 113
- 151
- 4/25 vs UAE
- 33.5
- 40.67
- 4.94
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- T20I
- 65
- 72
- 4/8 vs SL
- 23.22
- 20.17
- 6.91
R Ashwin - Key Skills and Strengths
Ashwin’s biggest asset has always been his temperament. Maybe his initial days of trying to be a fast bowler helped create an aggressive mindset, and Ashwin has never shied away from taking on batters. You sense that what he enjoys most is the battle of wills and wits. Test cricket, with its 5-day canvas, gives him the time to plan and execute dismissals, subtly luring batters into his traps. After his early successes with the flicked carrom ball, Ashwin has flourished by going back to off-spin basics. It’s his ability to drift the ball in that makes him so hard to read at times. He’s also a technically correct and accomplished batter, as his tally of 5 Test centuries shows.
R Ashwin Captaincy Record
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- Format
- Matches
- Won
- Lost
- Tie
- NR
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- Indian T20 League
- 28
- 12
- 16
- 0
- 0
Ravichandran Ashwin Awards and Achievements
Though there have been speed bumps on the way since his debut for the Indian cricket team in June 2010, Ashwin has gone on to establish himself as one of India’s greatest-ever bowlers. Though Anil Kumble’s record for most Test wickets by an Indian may remain out of reach for him, quite a few more records will undoubtedly tumble before Ashwin hangs up his boots.
Here are some of Ashwin’s biggest records and achievements in international cricket:
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Ashwin was the ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2016, only the third Indian to win the award after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.
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He was named in the ICC Test Team of the Decade in December 2020.
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Of the 4 Indians with more than 400 Test wickets, Ashwin has by far the best average and strike rate.
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He was the fastest to 300 Test wickets, taking just 54 matches. Australia’s Dennis Lillee previously held the record, having got there in 56 games.
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Only Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacques Kallis have won more Player of the Series awards than Ashwin (8).
R Ashwin’s Indian T20 League Journey
Though one spell of 2 for 13 hinted at his potential when the league was played in South Africa in 2009, it was only the following year that Ashwin became a regular in the Chennai XI. Over the next 4 seasons, as he established himself as India’s frontline spinner, Ashwin continued to be economical in the Indian T20 League, but took less than a wicket a game.
With Chennai then banned from the league, he moved to Pune and had a moderately good season. After missing 2017 due to injury, he went to captain Punjab in 2018. His performances over 2 seasons there were average, and he was traded to Delhi before the 2020 campaign. There too his performances have been adequate, but a world away from the exciting, carrom-ball bowler so integral to Chennai’s early successes. Ashwin will hope to continue his good form in the Rajasthan jersey for the second season running.
Here are some of Ashwin’s biggest achievements in the Indian T20 League:
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With 166 wickets, Ashwin is 6th on the all-time highest wicket takers’ list.
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Only Bhuvneshwar Kumar( 1473) has bowled more dot balls than Ashwin (1445).
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- Format
- M
- Wickets
- Best Bowling
- Avg
- SR
- ER
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- Indian T20 League
- 191
- 166
- 4/34 vs Punjab
- 28.51
- 24.51
- 6.98
R Ashwin: FAQs
Shane Warne, the legendary Australian leg-spinner.
Ashwin says his favorite captain is Sourav Ganguly, who led India to several landmark victories when Ashwin was a teenager
Ashwin has taken 474 Test wickets in 92 matches at an economy rate of 23.93. He has taken 32 5-wicket hauls and 7 10-wicket hauls.