Ravichandran Ashwin may have been away from India’s limited-overs series but not from the sport. Taking one wicket after another, Ashwin has proved that he can turn the ball on overseas pitches and is not just a home ground bully. He took a five-wicket haul in his County debut and now he has made headlines for getting the wicket of England’s veteran all-rounder, Paul Collingwood. Ashwin bowled a ripper of a delivery that spun from outside the off-stump line. Collingwood tried going on the back foot and play the cut shot but misjudged the spin on the ball.
Ashwin gave a mighty tweak to the ball which surprised Collingwood as it ended up hitting the top of the middle stump. Collingwood was shocked by the unexpected turn as he looked back at the stumps and then looked up to the sky in disappointment. Ashwin helped in getting the breakthrough as Collingwood along with Graham Clark had put on a good partnership for Durham rescuing them from 3 for 30 to 4 for 106.
Ashwin is trying to establish himself as an all-rounder as well. He rescued his team Worcestershire in the batting department as well by hitting his first half-century of the tournament. The 31-year-old stitched crucial partnerships and helped his team reach a respectable score of 335 in the first innings.
Deliveries like these makes our @ashwinravi99 anna more lethal in sub continent as well as in English conditionCollingwood would be amazed pic.twitter.com/J78hr3vQJl
— Ashwin Anna Fans (@ashwins_fans) September 26, 2017
He scored 82 runs from 130 balls with the help of 7 boundaries at a strike rate of 63.08. Though it is amazing to see Ashwin do so well on English pitches, it might strengthen his claim for a berth in India’s World Cup 2019 side because of his experience in these conditions, as the world cup will be played in England and Wales.
Ashwin has been out of the limited overs squad since the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. He has missed out on limited overs series against West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia. He is expected to play in the initial phase of Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu.
