IND vs AUS: Jadeja picked up his 11th five-wicket haul in the first innings. It was time for Ashwin to hog the limelight in the second innings as he ran through the Aussie line-up to pick his 31st five-wicket haul.
Australia has been left in tatters. In their chase of India’s first-innings lead of 223, Australia is falling like ninepins with the spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja doing the damage. Jadeja picked up his 11th five-wicket haul in the first innings. It was time for Ashwin to hog the limelight in the second innings as he ran through the Aussie line-up to pick his 31st five-wicket haul. And with that, he equalled India legend Anil Kumble’s spectacular Test record and went past Harbhajan Singh’s elusive tally.
In contrast to the first innings, Ashwin single-handedly destroyed Australia’s top order. In the first innings, the new-ball pair of Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj opened the innings before Jadeja destroyed the middle order. With the dismissal of Usman Khawaja, he made the first stride forward. He then struck at regular intervals to get rid of David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, and Alex Carey. These four batters have all been struck out leg-before-wicket.
It was Ashwin’s 31st five-wicket haul, which remains the seventh-most in Test history and second-highest after England James Anderson (32) among active cricketers. 25 of them came on home soil, which put him at par with Kumble as the Indian duo stand joint third after two Sri Lankan spinners in Muttiah Muralidaran (45) and Rangana Herath (26).
The five-wicket haul also took Ashwin’s tally of wickets at home to 320, one more than Australia legend Shane Warne, and fifth-best overall. 97 of his career wickets came in the rivalry between India and Australia in Tests, which is now the second highest after Kumble’s tally of 111. Ashwin went past Harbhajan and Nathan Lyon (95).
Read Also: Iran Unveils Underground Base for fighter jets Codenamed ‘Eagle 44’
SHARE
