Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday July 26,2017 became the 30th Indian cricketer to reach the landmark of 50 Test matches as Virat Kohli's team began their long series against Sri Lanka with the first Test beginning at Galle.
Ashwin is only the third off-spinner after Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Harbhajan Singh to reach the mark. Surprisingly he is only the sixth spinner to reach the landmark in the history of Indian Test cricket
The off spinner has an impeccable record in Test cricket as he is fastest to take 250 wickets and is in line to reach the 300-wicket mark ahead of others as well. He has been one of the biggest reasons for India's rise to the number one raking in Test cricket over the past two years.
Ashwin though will get his chance later in the match as Kohli decided to bat first on winning the toss. Speaking ahead of the match Ashwin said that he was thankful for having played in so many Test matches for India.
"Looking behind, I might have set some targets but looking ahead, I won't set targets because that is what past has taught me. You cannot really get ahead of yourself and you can't really set milestones," Ashwin said on a pragmatic note.
"The most important thing is to getting better every single day as international cricket can be very cruel. It can really sort you out if you are sitting on your past laurels, Yes, you can have a cup of coffee, reminisce well, it's important to go ahead and take a Test match and one day at a time," Ashwin stated
One of India's most prolific spinners with 275 wickets in 49 Tests, Ashwin felt that the 'Test No 50' puts him in good stead although he does not know how many more matches are left in him.
"The 50th Test is something that has just come about. I cannot retrace how I did it. But I am grateful to having got here and every Test match is a blessing from here on," Ashwin told mediapersons, here today.
Sri Lanka has been a happy hunting ground for Ashwin, who had a 10-wicket haul at Galle during the tour of 2015.
"Coming back to a place where I did really well is like a dream come true. It was a momentous occasion for me then as I was making a comeback into the Test side. I got a 10-for in the match, actually 6 for on the first day and 10 for on the third day. This brings back lot of good memories," Ashwin, who has 27 five-wicket and seven 10-wicket hauls, recollected.
No comments:
Post a Comment