Top 5 Bowling Performances of Ravichandran Ashwin in International Cricket

Legendary Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin is celebrating his 36^th birthday today. The Chennai-born veteran has spent more than a decade in international cricket for India since his first international appearance 12 years back in 2010. Notably, in a good piece of news, he has been selected in the Indian squad for the upcoming 20-20 World Cup 2022 commencing on the 16^th of October in Australia next month.

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Apart from this, nobody is unacquainted with the great contributions of Ashwin to Indian cricket. The red-ball legend has scalped 442 wickets in 86 Tests along with 2931 runs with the bat having five centuries to his name. The 36-year-old has also shown his excellence in white-ball cricket with 151 and 66 wickets in ODIs and T20I cricket respectively.

So, on the occasion of the legend’s 36^th birthday, here we’ll have a look at the top five performances from one of the all-time greats of Indian cricket.

Top 5 Performances of Ravichandran Ashwin:

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3/81 and 6/47 vs West Indies (2011) – Test

It was the very match in which Ashwin made his first Test appearance for team India. He marked his arrival with an excellent performance against West Indies in the first test of the home series. He scalped a total of 9 wickets in the match. The then debutant Ashwin scalped three wickets in the first innings and then amazed everyone with a stunning five-fer in the second innings.

It was the first five-wicket haul of Ashwin’s career and he achieved this by conceding just 47 runs. Since then, he never looked back and achieved greatness in the traditional format of the game.

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6/31 and 6/54 vs New Zealand (2012) – Test

The test match in which Ashwin achieved the feat of scalping 10 wickets in a single Test match. He claimed 12 wickets from the Kiwi team with six wickets each in both innings. His excellent spell helped the Indian team to bundle New Zealand only on the score of 115 runs. He conceded only a total of 85 runs in the entire Test.

First, he took six wickets by conceding just 31 runs, and again when India asked New Zealand to follow on, the new spin sensation of India scalped six wickets by conceding 54 runs. He also won the award of player of the match for his brilliant match-defining performance with the bowl.

4/28 vs UAE – ODI World Cup 2015

The Indian team was playing against the United Arab Emirates during the group stage of the ODI World Cup 2015 in Australia. UAE skipper Mohammad Tauqir won the toss and decided to bat first at the WACA ground in the Australian city of Perth. Showman Ashwin went on to show his excellence with the bowl by scalping four wickets by conceding just 25 runs in his quota of 10 overs.

Eventually, India bundled up the UAE only on the score of 102 runs in 31.3 overs on the backs of a brilliant performance from Ashwin. He was also adjudged player of the match for his match-defining performance for the men in blue.

4/11 vs Australia – 20-20 World Cup 2014, Bangladesh

India and Australia were crossing swords in the group-stage match of the 20-20 World Cup eight years back in the year 2014. Aussie skipper George Bailey won the toss and asked the Indian to bat first at the surface of Shere Bangla National Stadium. Batting first, India posted a total of 159 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

While defending the target, Indian bowlers led by Ravichandran Ashwin bundled up the Australian team only on a score of 86 runs. Ashwin went on to scalp four wickets by conceding just 11 runs in 3.2 overs. He also bagged the award of player of the match in his kitty.