R Ashwin is on the cusp of a little, special milestone, as he will be appearing in his 100th Test for India, in the fifth match against England at Dharamshala. In a stellar career, the 37-year-old has played 99 Tests and picked up 507 wickets at an average of 23.92, but his contribution has been a lot more than numbers.
He has been one of the biggest match-winners in Tests for India, at least at home, and picked up truckloads of wickets, apart from scoring a few crucial runs lower down the order. Prior to the start of the match, R Ashwin opened up his career, turning point, and the entire noise surrounding his 100th Test.
For starters, Ashwin clarified, that the 100th mattered more to his family than to himself. Talking at a press conference, he said, “The 100th Test matters a lot to me, but it matters more to my father, mother, wife, and even my kids. My kids are more excited about the Test. Families go through a lot during a player’s journey. My father still answers 40 calls on what his son did during a game,” quoted as saying by News18.
Turning Point in Career & Best Spell
While it is always difficult in a long career to pick up the best spells or the turning point in a career, it seemed as if Ashwin was quite clear on it. He named his 2018 effort in the Birmingham Test as his best, where he picked up seven wickets, but India went on to lose by 31 runs.
“It’s Test wins that stand tall. One of the finest spells I bowled was in Birmingham in 2018. I got 7 in the game.. I thought I had bowled India to win but that didn’t happen.”
As for the turning point, it was the 2012 series, that India lost 1-2, making him a better bowler. “That series vs England at home… where Cook and Pietersen scored runs, can well be the turning point for me. There were talks of me getting dropped, it was a wonderful lesson for me to improve say 5%. I knew what I had to correct. Since then it has addressing downs,” he added.
Editors pick
