Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan hailed veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for his brilliant performance of the Indian team over the years. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder picked up a 5-wicket haul to bundle the West Indies team for 150 runs in the 1st innings.
The 36-year-old completed 700 wickets in international cricket on Wednesday during day one of the first Test match against West Indies and recorded his 33rd five-wicket haul in Test matches.
Ravichandran Ashwin finished in the 1st innings with figures of 24.3-6-60-5, as he broke the opening partnership before getting the wickets in the middle overs. He also became the first Indian bowler to dismiss the father-son duo in test cricket after dismissing Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
“Do generation ko out karna koi Ashwin se sikhe…”( Someone Should Learn From Ashwin To Dismiss Two Generations) Irfan Pathan tweeted about Ravichandran Ashwin’s performance.
The Tamil Nadu all-rounder made a stunning comeback into the playing 11 picking up 5 wickets, Ashwin was dropped from the playing 11 against Australia as the team went in with four seamers for the one-off test against Australia as they failed to assess the conditions in Kennington, Oval which eventually led to the team loss in the one-off test in England.
It Is The Great Memories That You Create As A Team That Will Stick With You – Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin hailed Rahul Dravid for bringing his changes to the Indian team setup, as he wants the players to make memories being with the team rather than picking up wickets or scoring runs in cricket and added that he totally behind the idea of the Indian head coach and expressed his gratitude to him for giving him this journey in International Cricket.
“Rahul bhai (India coach Rahul Dravid) always says it’s not the wickets or the runs that you remember, The first time I met him as a coach he made a statement and he said ‘It’s not about how many runs you make, and how many wickets you take, as you will forget about all of them and it is the great memories that you create as a team that will stick with you,” Ravichandran Ashwin said.
Ashwin has been the standout performer at home over the years and he has improved his record in foreign conditions over the last few years to provide some crucial breakthroughs for his team.
The veteran was brought back into the team in place of the extra seamer in the team, which eventually helped the Indian team in the game in West Indies and the veteran spinner will look to continue his fine form going into the 2nd innings of the match.