"You can only imagine.."- Ravi Shastri warns Brendon McCullum of the Ravichandran Ashwin threat

India will host England in a five-match Test series with the first Test to commence on January 25, Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has warned the England team about the threat that Ravichandran Ashwin will have for them with his spin. The veteran spinner has a terrific record against England in Tests and he comes right after James Anderson in terms of most wickets taken in Tests between India and England

Ravichandran Ashwin has an exceptional record against England. He has taken 88 wickets in 19 matches with six five-wicket hauls and a six-wicket haul to his name. The veteran spinner is 12 wickets short of becoming only the second bowler after the legendary James Anderson to pick up 100 or more wickets in Tests between India and England.

Ravichandran Ashwin also has a good batting record as he has registered five Test centuries to his name, one of which came against England back in 2021 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. He also has 14 half-centuries to his name in the longest format. Ashwin is just 10 wickets away from completing 500 wickets in Test cricket.

Ravi Shastri joked about Ravichandran Ashwin’s new haircut and talked about how big a threat he is to the English team in the upcoming Test series during the BCCI awards that took place on Tuesday. He had a memorable day in the award ceremony as he won the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award. Farokh Engineer was the other recipient of the award alongside Ravi Shastri/

“Ashwin just mentioned, I am going to get up do better. Now that he has had this haircut and his brains are free, with the air going through, now can you imagine what all he is thinking? There could be a ‘Theesra’, there could be a ‘choutha’. England will find out very soon, in the next couple of months,” Shastri was quoted as saying.

Ravichandran Ashwin Would Like To Repeat His Performance Against England in the 2021 Series

Ravichandran Ashwin was the highest wicket-taker in the Test series against England which was held in 2021. He took 32 wickets in four matches at an average of 14.72 which included three five-wicket hauls and a best figure of 6/61. Ashwin also scored a century in the second Test of the four-match series which was played in Chennai.

England was the last team to win a Test series in India which was back in 2012 under the leadership of Alastair Cook. India has won 16 consecutive Test series at home since the defeat against England in 2012 and out of those 16, they have beaten England twice in 2016 and 2021. England will be looking to repeat what they did in 2012 and defeat the hosts.

India is currently second in the WTC table with a PCT of 54.16 and is right behind the defending champions Australia who are at the top of the table with a PCT of 61.11. The five-match Test series is the best opportunity for India to get to the top of the WTC table and with their record at home, it is highly possible that they would win the series against England convincingly.