Ravichandran Ashwin to become 1st Indian to claim this enormous feat vs England

India’s off-spinning veteran Ravichandran Ashwin who is a regular feature for team India in their red-ball setup is on the verge of scripting history when England travels to India for a 5-match Test series starting from January 25. The 37-year-old needs just 12 wickets to become the 1st from the country to register 100 Test wickets against the Three Lions.

Ravichandran Ashwin currently has 88 wickets to his name against England in Test cricket and 18 of those have come on British soil from the 3 tours he has been a part of (in 2014, 2018, and 2020-2021). 70 of those 88 wickets were picked by Ashwin when England came to India in 2012/13, 2014, 2018, and 2021/22.

Moreover, the versatile off-spinner is 10 wickets away from becoming just the 2nd Indian bowler to scalp 500 Test wickets after the great Anil Kumble who retired after 619 wickets in red-ball cricket. Though the journey to 600 is a little tough but Ashwin will have ample amount of opportunities to register the milestone of 500 wickets.

And it goes without saying that a lot will depend upon the performance of Ravichandran Ashwin as he is the senior-most bowler in the team. He brings in a wealth of experience in turning tracks in the sub-continent and has been a key player for India in Test cricket for the best part of the last decade.

In fact, he has played a major role behind India’s sheer dominance in red-ball cricket at home which has seen them remain undefeated in all of the Test series here since 2012. Ashwin knows very well how to take advantage of home conditions and exploit traveling teams, something we all have witnessed in each and every series since England went home with a 2-1 win in the 4-match series in 2012.

During England’s 2016 tour, Ashwin made life difficult for all the English batters by accurately pitching the ball on the cracks and forcing English batters to make mistakes. Another key stat is that more than half of his 490 Test wickets have come here – 337 to be precise.

In Asia alone, Ravichandran Ashwin has 387 wickets while he has 39 in Australia, 32 in West Indies, 11 in South Africa, and 3 in New Zealand.

With Several Milestones On His Mind, Can Ravichandran Ashwin Make Life Difficult For English Batters

The English team are currently camping in Abu Dhabi and preparing for the all-important Test series here. One of their main agendas will be to curb spin and of course that automatically brings the name of Ravichandran Ashwin who will lead the spinning contingent alongside Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.

England are reportedly sweating it out on the nets and have asked for similar pitches to the ones we have here in India. With their main focus on preventing spin from becoming a major threat, it will be a tough task for Ashwin and other spinners to pose a possible threat against the visitors.

The event becomes even more important because it will be the first time that Bazball will be tested in Indian conditions and Ravi Ashwin will carry most of the burden to outplay Ben Stokes’ led England.