20 facts about R Ashwin- Wisdom, Skill and Talent personified

20 facts about R Ashwin- Wisdom, Skill and Talent personified: Ravichandran Ashwin had captivated the Indian audiences with his bowling exploits in the shorter forms of the game, but ever since his Test debut against West Indies in 2011, Ashwin has surprised one-and-all with his ability to pick up quality wickets in the longer versions as well. He has definitely come off age. From being a rookie talent who used to be called a powerplay specialist in the IPL to being India’s premier Test bowler, Ashwin has seen it all. His bowling was once described as “fast and flat” but now he bowls with flight, loop and guile.

Ashwin realized sooner rather than later that having command over the off spin is of supreme importance and the variations only play the supporting act. Though his skills in overseas conditions have been under scrutiny, Ashwin has shown improvements on that front as well. He is now the undisputed leader of India’s spin bowling attack in all 3 formats. But did you know that Ashwin also averages close to 40 with the bat in Test cricket. Here we take a look at some such facts about Ashwin and his career.

20 facts about R Ashwin- Wisdom, Skill and Talent personified:

1. Not many people know this, but Ashwin always wanted to grow up and become a football player. Indeed, for many of his growing years he was well known in his school and neighborhood for being good at using his height to kick the ball powerfully.

2. He took nine wickets in his maiden Test, the second-highest by an Indian debutant after Narendra Hirwani’s 16, and won the Man-of-the-Match award.

3. Even before Mendis had played for Sri Lanka and bamboozled India’s heavyweights with his carrom ball, Ashwin had seen the Sri Lankan trying it in a game in Chennai, and was convinced even he could do it. As it turned out the carrom ball became a serous weapon for Ashwin in years to come.

4. Ashwin is yet to pick up a five wicket haul outside the subcontinent in Tests.

5. Ashwin is one of the rare players who came into public reckoning through the IPL and yet was good enough to hold his own in bigger forms of cricket.

6. He was a recipient of the Arjuna Award in 2014 and the BCCI’s international cricketer of the year for the 2012–13 season.

7. India’s new spin-spearhead, is the fastest cricketer in the history of Test cricket to have taken 75 wickets and amassed more than 500 runs.

8. He made his debut for Tamil Nadu against Haryana in Chennai in the 2006-07 season. He has an impressive domestic record, having scalped 134 wickets in 34 appearances for Tamil Nadu.

9. Ashwin was included in the Indian squad for the 2011 World Cup, but Dhoni played him in only two games and surprisingly omitted him in favour of Sreesanth in the final.

10. Having played for Chennai as a home based player and impressing the team management, Ashwin was bought back by his city franchise after a tough bidding war with the Royal Challengers of Bangalore for a whopping $800,000 in the 2011 IPL auctions.

11. Ashwin was adjudged the Man of the Series in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2013. He ended the series with an impressive tally of 29 wickets and became the third Indian off-spinner to take 25-plus wickets in a series after Harbhajan Singh (32) & Erapalli Prasanna (26).

12. In the first Test match of the Tendulkar farewell series against West Indies in November 2013, Ashwin got his second Test ton and also put on a record 7th wicket partnership of 280 runs along with Rohit Sharma. This was India’s highest partnership in Tests for the wicket. This was also the second-highest partnership for India against West Indies for any wicket in Tests.

13. He also did well for India at the 2014 World T20, bagging 11 wickets in the tournament to top the bowling charts for his side.

14. Ashwin’s performance in the 2015 World Cup was greatly appreciated because of his disciplined and accurate bowling. He picked up 13 wickets in the tournament and also registered his best ODI bowling figures of 4/25 against United Arab Emirates.

15. Ashwin is the fastest ever Indian bowler to 50 Test wickets.

16. Having achieved little success as an opening batsman at junior-level cricket, he dropped down the order and turned into an off break bowler.

17. On 13 November 2011, Ashwin married his childhood friend Prithi Narayanan. Ashwin’s father Ravichandran has played competitive cricket in Tamil Nadu.

18. Ashwin became the first Indian cricketer to score a century and take five wickets in same test match on 2 separate instances.

19. Ashwin scored a hundred and took nine wickets when India played against West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium in 2011. Only four other India players have hit a hundred and taken five or more wickets for the match.

20. Ashwin is also the third Indian cricketer to be awarded the Man of the Match (MoM) on debut.