Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja added yet another feather to their illustrious career on day 4 of the second test at the Queen’s Park Oval. The Indian spinning duo becomes the second Indian pair to pick up 500 wickets together after the legendary Indian pair of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in the Indian cricket.
The milestone came after Ravichandran Ashwin picked up the second wicket in the 2nd innings as he dismissed debutant Kirk McKenzie for a duck after sending the West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite back to the dressing room on Day 4 of the crucial game.
Ravindra Jadeja has been one of the mainstays in the Indian team alongside Ravichandran Ashwin to secure important wins for India in their home and overseas conditions. Ashwin has 274 wickets and Jadeja has 226 wickets in the matches they played together and they will be crucial for the team’s success in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle.
Ravichandran Ashwin was often dropped from the playing 11 in SENA countries due to the playing combination. In the recent WTC final, The 36-year-old was dropped from the playing 11 against Australia as the team went in with four seamers, as they failed to assess the conditions in Kennington, Oval which eventually led to the team’s loss in England.
Ravichandran Ashwin made a comeback into the playing 11 in the 1st test and was the standout performer for India with the ball against West Indies in the 1st test as he recorded one of his best away performances, taking 5/60 in the first innings and 7/71 in the second innings to finish with figure 12/131 and Ravindra Jadeja too impressed with his all-around skills against Men in Maroon in the two-match series so far and would be crucial for India in final day of the two-match series.
The Indian spinning duo is instrumental in India’s success in the longer format of the game, as they produced many match-winning performances for the team in red-ball cricket especially in home conditions as both the bowlers bowl in tandem to pickup crucial wickets for the team in Test Cricket.
In the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, both veteran spinners bowled exceedingly well to help India win the series 2-1 and make it into the grand finals of the World Test Championship 2023.