NEWS
Follow UsThe fifth and final Test against England in Dharamsala, starting on Thursday (March 7), is going to be a landmark game for India’s ace offspinner R Ashwin. The 37-year-old, who went past 500 Test wickets in Ranchi, is set to become the 14th Indian to feature in 100 Tests. It might be a big achievement for any cricketer, but Ashwin doesn’t care.
“Just because I have great memory, people actually think that I value numbers, but I actually don’t. It does not mean anything to me. The 100th Test match probably means 10 x 100 to my dad, it means a lot to my wife and my mom. My daughters are more excited than I am. It’s just a number. Zaheer Khan could not play 100 Test, MS Dhoni could have rode on his (success) and played 100 Tests, but he did not,” said Ashwin.
Ashwin, who made his Test debut in 2011, said the 2012 home series against England made him the bowler he is today. The offspinner struggled against the likes of Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen, picking up 14 wickets across four Tests at a terrible average of 52.64.
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India lost the series 2-1, but haven’t lost a single home Test series since then and Ashwin has played a major role in that. His success at home is paramount; he has 354 wickets in India, the most for any bowler, surpassing the great Anil Kumble, who had 350 scalps. He has 404 wickets in Asia and is only 15 behind Kumble on that chart, with Muttiah Muralitharan still 208 wickets away.
“One of the turning points of my life was the England series when Cook came here and made all those runs. It has been talked about a lot but to me that and what led to the next home series against Australia (changed a lot for me). There was lot of noise about me being left out of the team, one of the selectors had a chat with me. At that time I was a bit nervy though I don’t know where it came from as I had done well previously,” he said.
“When I went back and reflected on it after all those articles written about me, it dawned upon me that what was wrong with me. That is a wonderful lesson that has been kept with me all these years down the line. “When I look back it, it taught me what I had to correct. Some of those questions were raised by me largely.”
Ashwin said despite his personal milestone, he is looking forward to winning the series 4-1. "More than the destination, the journey has been very special. It is a journey of ups and downs and a lot of learnings. But it doesn't change anything as far as playing a Test match is concerned. 3-1 scoreline is on the board and despite the scoreline, you want to win every Test match."
