County Championship: Decoding the stats of Ravichandran Ashwin
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made headlines with his phenomenal performance in the 2021 County Championship. Ashwin, who represented Surrey against Somerset, registered figures of 6/27 in the second innings. The senior spinner, who was the leading wicket-taker in the recently-concluded WTC, was at his best ahead of the five-match series against England. Let us have a look at his stats in the County Championship.
In the first innings, Ashwin took only one wicket and conceded 99 runs. The tables turned in the second innings when he recorded his best figures (6/27) in County championship. These are his second-best figures in First-class cricket outside India after his 7/83 against WI in 2016. Ashwin has previously snapped up two six-wicket hauls in the competition (both against his current team Surrey).
Having represented Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Surrey, Ashwin has picked up 61 wickets from just 10 games in County Championship. The tally includes as many as 7 five-wicket hauls. In addition to this, Ashwin has scored 553 runs with the bat.
Ashwin opened the bowling in the both the innings. He became the first spinner in 11 years to bowl the first over (County Championship) since 2010. Ashwin has now taken most five-fors (3) while opening the bowling in the past 15 years (County Championship). He conceded the fewest runs by any spinner (27) for a five-for (County Championship) while opening the bowling since 2006.
Ashwin's 6/27 is the cheapest five-wicket haul by a Surrey spinner since 2011 when Pragyan Ojha took 6/8 against Northamptonshire. The last instance of a spinner bowling the first over in a FC match in England was recorded in 2010 (Claude Henderson vs Surrey).
Watch all six wickets for @ashwinravi99 at The Kia Oval this morning, as Somerset were bowled out for just 69.
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) July 14, 2021
👀 @DelhiCapitals @BCCI pic.twitter.com/4ybYW4dAno
Ashwin has a difference of 11.53 between his batting (36.86) and bowling averages (25.32) in the County Championship. Since his debut season in 2017, only Darren Stevens (13.56) has a higher difference between batting and bowling averages (players with 500+ runs and 50+ wickets in the championship). Notably, Ashwin batted at number six for Surrey against Somerset.
