Ravichandran Ashwin buries 2005 Ashes, declares Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 GOAT series
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Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has rated the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy above the intense 2005 Ashes, where England reestablished their position in the bilateral contest.
The inaugural edition of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy marked a dramatic end after India sealed the series into a draw, having won the final Test at the Oval. With India defending 35 runs on the final day of the Test, Chris Woakes coming on to bat with a sling on his left arm, and more blockbuster action, the most anticipated contest between the two teams came to a marked end.
With the quality of cricket displayed by the two teams, the needle between the sides, and every Test going till the final day of the match, it drew comparisons to the iconic 2005 Ashes, the most iconic Test series in recent memory.
The 2005 Ashes marked some thrilling and nail-biting contests, which ended with England winning by a 2-run margin at Edgbaston, Australia ending in a draw with just one wicket in hand, and England losing 7 wickets in a modest chase of 129.
Ravichandran Ashwin holds the India vs England 2025 series higher than the 2005 Ashes
However, former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin did not limit himself to just the comparisons, as he thinks this series outdid the 2005 Ashes, which ended 2-1 in favour of England. The former spinner has cited 'imperfections' within the two sides as the main reason for such an exciting contest.
“A lot of people are comparing this series with the 2005 Ashes, but I think this series was slightly better than even the 2005 Ashes – because there was so much more imperfection, from both sides,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Though Ashwin might have belittled the uniqueness of the 2005 Ashes, he claimed the players in that series to be superior to the players in the current series, as he said there have been several mistakes committed in the recent series, which set the tone for its dramatic end.
“If you look at that Australian team, there was Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, you had Michael Kasprowicz, Shaun Tait. From this side [England] you had Simon Jones, Steve Harmison, you had Ashley Giles. There was a lot of experience in the bowling attacks. There was experience in the batting too."
"There was a lot of hard-fought cricket, where you couldn't see a lot of mistakes. It was hard-fought,” he added.
'Correcting their mistakes, the young players got better, ' Ashwin explains
Ravichandran Ashwin shares what made him like the series even further, which he says was how the young players learned from their mistakes and rectified them instantaneously to emerge as better cricketers.
“In this series, there were a lot of mistakes,” Ashwin added. “But the young players have corrected their mistakes and gotten better through the series.
"You had somebody like KL Rahul who's not put a foot wrong in the series. Then you had somebody like a Rishabh Pant or Shubman Gill, who made errors – both got run out once – they played some poor shots and got out at the crucial moments," a little harsh take on the Indian captain and vice-captain.
“In the bowling too, Mohammed Siraj has had some down spells, Prasidh [Krishna] has had some ordinary spells. England have bowled poorly, but have fought back through Ben Stokes. So there has been a lot of imperfection."
"There was a lot of perfection in the 2005 Ashes, but we got to see a lot of imperfection in this series," Ashwin justified.
Ravichandran Ashwin further added as to how the correction of their vulnerabilities emerged as the beauty of the series.
"Anyone who paid money to go watch the match, no one would say they didn't have their money's worth. Twenty-five days of riveting cricket, and I could give anything to watch this series, I have not missed a moment,” he concluded.
England prepare for highly anticipated 2025-26 Ashes
The upcoming Ashes is another anticipated contest to be held between England and Australia and will be hosted by Australia. The Ashes has been scheduled to be played between November 2025 and January 2026, which also includes a Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Australia remains the defending champion of the Ashes, having won it back in 2021-22 and drawn in 2023. The five venues for the Ashes will be Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney.
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India National Cricket Team England National Cricket Team Australia National Cricket Team Ravichandran Ashwin The Ashes 2025-26 The Ashes India vs England
