Reflecting his storied cricketing journey after the reaching an enormous profession milestone of 500 Test wickets on the second day of the continuing third Test in opposition to England on Friday, star India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin referred to as himself an “accidental spinner”. Adressing a press convention after stumps have been drawn on Day 2 at Rajkot, Ashwin revealed that he needed to be a batter.
The 37-year-old added that after Sri Lankan spinning ace Muttiah Muralitharan, who nonetheless tops the checklist of wicket-takers in red-ball cricket, was unwilling to take the brand new ball for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), he was entrusted with the job. (Ashwin Completes 500 Test Wickets; Sachin Tendulkar Gives Him A New Name After Achieving Landmark)
“It’s been a long journey. I was an accidental spinner, I wanted to be a batter all around. When I walked into the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) dressing room, Muttiah Muralitharan didn’t wanna bowl the new ball and eventually, I got a chance to deliver the new ball. I had a reasonable first-class start to my life… People doubted whether I could become a Test bowler, 13 years later it’s not a bad achievement. I am pretty glad,” Ashwin mentioned.
Ashwin picked up his five hundredth scalp after dismissing Zak Crawley through the post-Tea session of the Rajkot Test on Friday. The spin maestro grew to become solely the second Indian after the legendary Anil Kumble and ninth total to take 500 wickets in Test cricket.
Rajkot was bracing itself for R Ashwin’s Test wicket No.Â
The Comms, the Journos, the TV Crew, & a really particular member from the Ashwin fam received their predictor hatÂ
Who received it proper #TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @ashwinravi99 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/tPuIvS51oR
 BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2024
When requested concerning the pitch in Rajkot, the bowling all-rounder added that it’s going to proceed to remain an excellent batting pitch if the “cracks don’t open up”.
“It’s a typical Rajkot wicket and will get slower. I think the way the game is going, if the cracks don’t open up, the wicket will continue to stay pretty good for batting,” he added.
Ashwin heaped reward on Ben Duckett, calling him a “phenomenal talent” for the English aspect. The Indian spinner additionally got here out in reward of the slog sweep which was continuously deployed by the English opener to nullify the spin menace.
“He is a very different batter when he’s at 60-70 runs for sure. A couple of shots (slog sweeps) that he hit were very special. Ben Duckett is a phenomenal talent in England. Credit to him, he has made a wonderful hundred today. I wanted to clap but I didn’t. Very happy for him…,” he added.
At Stumps on Day 2, England have been sitting fairly at 207/2, trailing the hosts by 238 runs with Ben Duckett (133) and Joe Root (9) unbeaten on the crease. Duckett reached the triple-figure mark in 88 balls after finishing his fifty off simply 39 balls.
England received off to a flying begin, with Duckett placing the Indian bowlers to the sword and Crawley, too, going regular on the different finish. The duo continued to pile up the runs at breakneck tempo within the third session of Day 2 earlier than the latter fell to Ashwin.
