Poll: Ravichandran Ashwin v Yasir Shah who is the biggest match-winner?

Here we have 2 world-class spinners pitted against each other. While Shah is relatively new to international cricket, Ashwin has had more experience of playing in all conditions since a while and been a regular feature of the Indian team. The off-spinner Ashwin and the leggie Shah are expected to dominate batsmen for many years to come with their guile and accuracy. These two are proven match winners and have delivered fine spells under pressure. Spin bowling has a rich tradition in the subcontinent and these two are doing their best to continue it.

Ravichandran Ashwin (2010-Present)

A master of variations, Ashwin rose to prominence after a series of brilliant spells in the IPL and the Champions League in 2010. A-man-of-the series performance in the latter earned him a call-up to the Test side. He took 9 wickets against the West Indies in the 1st Test at Delhi and had a memorable debut winning the man-of-the-match award. The 3rd and final Test at Mumbai was a closely fought draw and Ashwin bagged yet another man-of-the-match award. He took two five-wicket hauls and scored a century in that series and won the player of the series award. India won the 3 match series 2-0. This sensational debut series further enhanced his calibre as a top class off-spinner and made him a regular member of the team. The home Test series against the Aussies in 2013 saw him taking 29 wickets, the most by any Indian bowler in a four-match Test series. He is the fastest Indian bowler to reach the 50- 100-and 150 wicket mark in the longest format of the game. Ashwin has thus far played 30 Tests and picked up 157 wickets with a best spell in an innings against the Aussies -7/103 at Chennai in 2013. 3 out of his first 12 Test matches were played in Australia and he struggled to have the kind of impact he had in India. He picked up 63 wickets from his first 12 Tests. Ashwin is currently ranked 5^th in the ICC Test Bowler Rankings.

Yasir Shah (2011-Present)

The classical leggie is a big spinner of the ball and uses the flippers and googlies to great effect. Like Ashwin he also had a marvellous debut series, this was against the Australians in the U.A.E in October 2014. He picked up 12 wickets in the 2 match series which Pakistan won 2-0. He became the quickest Pakistani bowler to 50 Test wickets by getting there in just 9 matches. He has played 12 Tests and already picked up 76 wickets. Shah picked up 3 consecutive five-wicket hauls in 3 Tests against Sri Lanka. Taking 21 wickets at 19.33, he helped his team win the series 2-1. He made his First-Class debut in February 2002 had to wait for nine years to at the highest level of the game. An ODI and two T20Is later, he was back out of the reckoning, however, earned a recall at a difficult time for Pakistan with Saeed Ajmal being banned in September 2014. His performances have made sure his team doesn’t miss the services of the controversial off-spinner. Shah’s best spell was in the Sri Lanka series when he picked up 7/76 at Galle in the first Test which Pakistan won. He is jointly ranked 2^nd in the ICC Test Bowler Rankings along with England’s James Anderson.

These two wonderful bowlers are sure to win many more matches for their respective teams. It’s a tough call to pick the biggest match winner from Ashwin and Shah and we let the fans do the honours.

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