The Veteran Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is set to play his 100th test match during the England tour of India in 2024.
Sunil Gavaskar Requests to Rohit Sharma
Ravichandran Ashwin has been iconic in his test career with 507 wickets, 35 five-wicket hauls, 24 four-fors, and also amassed 3000+ runs including five centuries in 99 matches, including the fourth test of the ongoing England series.
Ashwin surpassed Anil Kumble in bagging the most wickets in India. He has 354 wickets after a five-wicket haul in the second innings of the fourth match on Sunday.
He also picked up his 35th five-wicket haul in the 99 matches while Anil Kumble took 132 matches to reach the milestone.
It has been 13 years since his debut in an international career which includes some memorable moments like being successful in the ICC Test Rankings, Playing two WTC finals, or beating Australia in their home ground twice.
Apart from these, he is set to play his 100th test match to become the 14th Indian cricketer to reach the milestone. He will be playing his 100th test match on March 07, joining Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ishant Sharma on the list.
Ashwin has been dedicated to Indian cricket and always backed their fellow spin bowling partners during crucial times. However, the legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has requested to current Indian captain Rohit Sharma to let Ashwin lead the team at the Dharamsala match.
“India wins tomorrow and you go to Dharamsala. I just hope that Rohit allows you to lead the team out to the field when. That will be a wonderful gesture, wonderful honor for all that you’ve done for Indian cricket,” said Gavaskar after the end of day 03 in the ongoing test.
Gavaskar has expressed his desire to see Ashwin captaining the test side once or twice in the past. Two years ago, Gavaskar suggested Ashwin with India’s test captaincy. But it didn’t materialize due to some reasons.
However, the legendary Gavaskar wants Ashwin to captain the side at HPCA stadium. On the other hand, the veteran spinner is clear on focusing on the job and said has zero expectations for it.
“Sunny bhai, you’re being too generous. Thank you so much. I have no expectations of all these things. I think I’m well past all that but genuinely saying I’m enjoying every single moment that I am being with this team and the longer it lasts, I will be very happy,” responded Ashwin.
Coming to the present, India is currently playing in the second innings of the fourth match. After England scored 353 runs in the first innings, the hosts responded by scoring 307 runs in the first innings.
They also intensified the bowling attacks in the second innings making the visitors struggle at Ranchi. They scored only 145 runs in the second inning.
With a trail of 192 runs, India started their second innings where they scored 40 runs without fall of wicket by the end of day 03.
After resuming the innings in day 04 Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma‘s partnership brought 50+ scores without losing a wicket at JSCA International Stadium Complex.
