Border-Gavaskar series: Decoding the astonishing stats of R Ashwin
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin finished with 25 wickets in the four-match Test series against Australia. He bagged the Player of the Series award jointly with Ravindra Jadeja for his exploits with the ball. Overall, the former has been sensational in all the matches. He was a pivotal figure in India's 2-1 win in the Border-Gavaskar series. We decode his stats from the series.
25 wickets and 86 runs for Ashwin in the series
Ashwin picked 25 wickets in this series against Australia, finishing as the highest wicket-taker. He had an average of 17.28 through the series. His best figures of 6/91 came in the first innings of the Ahmedabad Test. Ashwin's other fifer (5/37) came in the Nagpur Test. In a low-scoring series, Ashwin's 86 runs were also very handy.
Most successful Indian Test bowler versus Australia
Ashwin has been India's mainstay spinner in Tests for over a decade, while Australia has been one of his favorite opponents. He has picked 114 wickets against the Kangaroos in this format, having surpassed Anil Kumble (111). A look at his stats against Australia in Tests: Matches: 22, Wickets: 114 Average: 28.36. His best bowling figures (7/103) are from the iconic 2013 Chennai Test.
Second-most Player-of-the-Series awards
Ashwin has extended his overall tally of the Player-of-the-Series awards to 10. The Indian spinner has featured in 37 Test series, bagging 10 such awards as of now. He is only behind Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan who has 11 such awards from 67 Test series. Ashwin went past South Africa's Jacques Kallis (9 awards) in this regard.
Second-highest Test fifers for India
Ashwin is the second-highest among Indian bowlers to pick five-wicket hauls in Tests. His six wickets in the first innings in Ahmedabad took his tally to 32 fifers from 174 innings. He is only behind Anil Kumble, who has picked 35 fifers in Tests for India in 236 innings. He equaled James Anderson's five-wicket tally, and they both are joint sixth-highest overall.
Rolling back a decade!
Ashwin dismissed all 15 Australian batters who batted in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar series. He rolled back the years as he achieved a similar feat back in the 2013 Test series when he removed all 16 Australians who featured in that particular series. A decade apart, but nothing has changed for India's spin linchpin. He continues to rule the roost.
Ashwin surpasses Kumble on this list
Ashwin's fifer in Ahmedabad was his 26th Test fifer in India. By picking six wickets in the fourth Test, he has surpassed Kumble's record of 25 Test fifers at home. He now has the joint-second-highest Test fifers at home. He is tied with Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath and is only behind Muralitharan, who has 45 Test fifers at home.
Second-most wickets in Border-Gavaskar series
Ashwin is the second-highest wicket-taker of the Border-Gavaskar series. He is only behind Australia's Nathan Lyon who has picked 116 scalps. However, Ashwin has only played 22 matches and has a better average of 28.36 in comparison to his counterpart.
Here's a look at Ashwin's Test numbers
Ashwin has raced to 474 Test wickets at 23.93 after finishing with 7/149 in the Ahmedabad Test. Ashwin has played 92 Test matches and is the ninth-highest wicket-taker overall in the longest format. He is also the second-highest wicket-taker among Indians in Tests, only behind Kumble (619 wickets). Ashwin's closest rival in the leaderboard is eighth-placed Lyon, with 482 wickets.
