Ravichandran Ashwin Turns 38: An Overview Of His Exceptional Cricket Career
Ravichandran Ashwin made his debut in Test cricket in 2011 against West Indies and he got a dream start to his career as he claimed nine wickets on debut and won the Player of the Match award. He took nine five-fors in his first 16 Tests and set records for being the quickest to 300 Test wickets and second quickest to 400, behind only Muttiah Muralitharan.
Stellar Test Record
Some key Test match performances by Ashwin include 30 five-wicket hauls and nearly 90 wickets against Australia and England. He steadily took over 50 wickets in four different seasons. At the peak, he performed phenomenally well in the home season of 2016-17 where he could claim 27 wickets from three Tests against New Zealand, followed by 28 from five Tests against England, six from a sole game against Bangladesh, and then 21 across four Tests against Australia.
Man of the series in Champions League In South Africa, 2010
Ashwin was drafted into Chennai Super Kings in 2009 for the inaugural season of the IPL and stayed there for six years where, of course, he received much attention and continued to show his prowess, winning two titles. He was known for his multi-dimensional talent as well as he bowled effectively in powerplays and death overs. Also, Ashwin was declared Man of the Series in Champions League in South Africa in 2010.
Also Read: KSCA Invitational Tournament: Arjun Tendulkar Shines For Goa With Stunning 9-Wicket Haul
Ashwin in World Cup
Ashwin was part of the 2011 World Cup-winning team, though he did not get many chances in the event, being a deputy to Harbhajan Singh. He atoned for that in the 2015 World Cup with 13 wickets in eight games, in which India made it into the semis. He has had his best spell in T20 Internationals during the 2014 World Cup, where he took 4 for 11 against Australia and ended up with 11 wickets in the event when India ultimately lost in the final.
He started as an opener but then became an off-spinner, batting at the tail end. This has equally been helpful in that he has remained an important lower-order batsman, scoring five Test centuries.
Bowling Stats
| Format | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 100 | 189 | 26166 | 12255 | 516 | 7/59 | 13/140 | 23.75 | 2.81 | 50.7 | 25 | 36 | 8 |
| ODIs | 116 | 114 | 6303 | 5180 | 156 | 4/25 | 4/25 | 33.20 | 4.93 | 40.4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T20Is | 65 | 65 | 1452 | 1672 | 72 | 4/8 | 4/8 | 23.22 | 6.90 | 20.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| FC | 156 | 281 | 40702 | 18810 | 758 | 7/59 | 13/140 | 24.81 | 2.77 | 53.6 | 33 | 55 | 12 |
| List A | 176 | 174 | 9514 | 7364 | 236 | 4/25 | 4/25 | 31.20 | 4.64 | 40.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T20s | 324 | 320 | 7014 | 8260 | 310 | 4/8 | 4/8 | 26.64 | 7.06 | 22.6 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Ravichandran Ashwin: The Off-Spin Legend – A Look At His Most Impressive Records
- Leading wicket taker for India in WTC
- 2nd player with Most Player of the Series awards- 10
- 3rd player with Most Five wickets-in-an-innings in a career- 36
- 4th player with Most Wickets taken bowled- 105
- 1st player to reach Fastest 350 wickets in 66 matches
- 1st player to reach Fastest 250 wickets in 45 matches
- 1st player to reach Fastest 300 wickets in 54 matches
- 2nd player to reach Fastest 400 wickets in 77 matches
- 2nd player to reach Fastest 450 wickets in 89 matches
- 2nd player to reach Fastest 500 wickets in 98 matches
- 5th player with Most ten-wickets-in-a-match in a career- 8
- 5th player with Most wickets taken lbw- 113
Ashwin's IPL Career
Ravichandran Ashwin has represented five franchises in IPL since 2009 season; last of them is Rajasthan Royals with whom he is since 2022.
Ravichandran Ashwin has gathered 180 wickets so far. He is only one of the five cricketers who were able to do so for the entire history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
IPL Debut with Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Chennai Super Kings was the team that Ashwin joined as a newcomer in Indian Premier League. He was with them from 2008 to 2015. One of his most unforgettable experience, was an IPL final match against the Royal Challenges Bengaluru in 2011 with MS Dhoni bowling Chris Gayle out in the opening over. Almost potential career best while with CSK was 2011 when he pooled up 20 wickets for the tournament which was the highest he has ever achieved in a single IPL season.
Ashwin joined Rising Pune Super Giants for 2016 season, he then had to miss the 2017 season due to injury before moving to Punjab Kings.
Also Read: What Are The 5 Key Records Ravichandran Ashwin Could Shatter In India-Bangladesh Test Series ?
Ashwin took over the captaincy of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2018 and in 2019, some controversies followed him.
Before the start of IPL in 2020, Ashwin was swapped with Delhi Capitals, where he spent two years, and then went to Rajastha Royals in 2022.
