Nasser Hussain hits back at Ravichandran Ashwin's critics with 'Ranchi Test was a reminder' statement

Former England captain Nasser Hussain was all praise for India’s veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for his match-winning performance against England in the 4th Test. Ashwin scalped his 35th 5-wicket haul during the 3rd innings of the Test which took place at the JSCA stadium in Ranchi. His efforts were then complimented by the Indian batters who ensured the hosts get over the victory line and triple their lead in the series.

The 4th Test was England’s final chance of staging a comeback in the 5-match series and they had even started off with a clear intent to dominate. Ben Stokes‘ side were on top of things in the first 2 mornings before Dhruv Jurel initiated India’s comeback in the closing hours of day 2 and early hours of day 3. His 90-run knock required support from the bowling front and that’s when Ravichandran Ashwin stood up for the task.

Nasser Hussain says Ashwin was bound for success in the 4th Test

While writing for his column on Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain hit back at those who doubted and claimed Ashwin has remained quiet in this Test series. Hussain called Ashwin “a great cricketer” who cannot be written off and claimed he was the point of difference in the 3rd innings.

“People have been saying Ashwin has had a quiet series, but this game has been a reminder that you don’t keep a great cricketer down. Root proved as much in England’s first innings and Ashwin underlined the point in their second,” Hussain wrote in praise of Ravichandran Ashwin via Daily Mail.

Before claiming the five-for in the 3rd innings, Ashwin had accounted for 11 wickets from the 3 Tests in Hyderabad, Vizag, and Rajkot. The 37-year-old entered the elite 500 Test wickets club in the 3rd Rajkot Test where he scalped only 2 wickets across innings.

But in the slow turner at Ranchi, Ravichandran Ashwin came out with a solid game plan. He was handed the new ball by skipper Rohit Sharma and Ashwin did not waste much time to start off with his decimation of the English batting. He removed Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Joe Root very quickly before Kuldeep Yadav got into the act and scalped Zak Crawley, Ben Stokes, Tom Hartley, and Ollie Robinson.

Ashwin’s final 2 wickets were of Ben Foakes and James Anderson while Ravindra Jadeja claimed the sole wicket of Jonny Bairstow.

Hussain appreciates Rohit Sharma’s decision to hand Ravichandran Ashwin the new ball

While watching over England’s 3rd innings, Nasser Hussain noticed how Ravichandran Ashwin’s eyes lit up when Rohit Sharma handed him the new ball. Hussain also appreciated Rohit’s tactical thinking to bring in the off-spinner who made an immediate impact.

“You could see the fire in his eyes when Rohit gave him the new ball, he was determined to stamp his class on the series. Rohit Sharma got it spot on when he opened the bowling with Ravichandran Ashwin, after delaying his entry for too long in the 1st innings at Rajkot,”  Hussain concluded.