Ravichandran Ashwin Is An Outstanding Cricketer: Ryan Sidebottom

Former England paceman Ryan Sidebottom lavished praises on India’s spin-duo and Ravichandran Ashwin for methodically dismantling the Englishmen in the recently-concluded Test series in India. Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin shared more than 50 wickets throughout the series to fire India to victory. Ryan Sidebottom underlined that India showed their experience and expertise on home soil.

While England batsmen dealt with spin-bowling outstandingly well in the first Test as Joe Root scored a double-hundred, scripting victory by 227 runs. But the tourists kept suffering meltdowns one after the other and ultimately lost the series comprehensively. Captain Joe Root was the only batsman to play reasonably well, topping the run-scoring charts in the series with 365 runs.

Ravichandran Ashwin continued his exemplary form with the ball, taking 32 wickets at 14.71 along with scoring a hundred to earn the man of the series award. Axar Patel, who replaced Ravindra Jadeja for the series, took five-wicket hauls in all three Tests along with offering some useful resistance with the bat. He ended up with 27 wickets in his first three Tests of the career at 10.59.

They made it very difficult for the England batsmen: Ryan Sidebottom

Ryan Sidebottom acknowledged that Ravichandran Ashwin is an outstanding cricketer as he bats, bowls, and fields brilliantly. As for Axar Patel, Sidebottom claimed that he made Test cricket look easy and the duo bowled consistently in the area that reacted differently to the batsmen. The 43-year old highlighted that it became quite challenging for the tourists to deal with the Indian spinners as they exemplified their skill and experience on home soil.

“Ashwin is an outstanding cricketer. He bats brilliantly, bowls, fields. He is just a great all-round cricketer. It was great for Axar to come in and take those wickets. He made Test cricket look easy, the way he performed. They just bowled consistently in that area. They bowled straight. Some went on with the arm and some spun. They made it very difficult for the England batsmen and the Indian spinners showed their experience on home soil and they bowled fantastically together,” Sidebottom told Times of India.

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