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R Ashwin announced his retirement on Wednesday after a sparkling international career spanning 15 years. He has left a huge impact on Test cricket where he has established himself as one of the greatest match-winners not just among Indians but in the history of the game.
Ashwin ended his Test career with 537 wickets in 106 Tests, and that makes him seventh all-time in Test cricket and India’s highest wicket-taker after Anil Kumble’s 619 wickets. Among the nine bowlers to have picked up 500 wickets, Ashwin has the highest strike rate of 50.73, while his bowling average of 24 places him third.
He has taken five or more wickets in an innings 37 times, which puts him second only to Muttiah Muralitharan’s 67, while Shane Warne has also done it 37 times. He has taken 10 or more wickets in a match in Test cricket eight times, which puts him level with Kumble among Indian bowlers.
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Domination at home
Ashwin’s brilliant success at home has significantly contributed to India’s record at home Tests in the last decade. He has played every home Test since his debut in 2011, which covered 65 matches.
Of those 65 matches, India has won 47, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, who has won 52 Tests. Only Alastair Cook (89) has played more Tests than Ashwin without missing a Test, followed by Tony Gregg (31) and Dilip Doshi (21) among bowlers.
Ashwin took 383 wickets in those 65 home Tests, the most taken by any Indian bowler and the fourth most overall. Ashwin’s 29 five-wicket hauls at home are second only to Muralitharan’s 45. Ashwin’s 303 wickets in home Test wins are just two short of Muralitharan’s 305.
Among the 23 bowlers who have more than 200 wickets at home, Ashwin’s average of 21.57 is the sixth best, while his strike rate of 46 is the fourth best. It is also the best strike rate among spinners with 200 wickets at home.
The ratio of Ashwin’s home average to that of other bowlers (32.47) in those matches is 1.51, the fifth highest among bowlers with more than 200 wickets at home.
Contribution to the bat
Ashwin has not been limited to bowling in Test cricket, he has also made important contributions with the bat. He scored six centuries, four of which came while batting at eight or below. In this regard, he is only behind Daniel Vettori, who has five centuries to his name.
He has also taken five wickets in four of the six matches in which he scored a century. This is only one other player to do it more times than Ashwin- Ian Botham (5).
Ashwin, of the eight players who took more than 500 wickets, only two other bowlers have achieved this: Stuart Broad and Kumble, before Ashwin. His 3503 runs is the second most after Stuart Broad, with 3662 runs by bowlers to take more than 500 wickets.
India’s own match-winner
While Ashwin has played, India has won 61 out of the 106 Test matches played under him, and leading the pack are the two that have led India to the most Test match victories-Sachin Tendulkar (72) and Virat Kohli (62). His contribution percentage while in the playing XI is 57.55%, the sixth-best amongst those who have played over 100 Tests.
All the players having better win percentages are Australians: Matthew Hayden (68.93), Glenn McGrath (67.74), Justin Langer (66.67), Ricky Ponting (64.29), and Shane Warne (63.45), who all played for Australia during a dominant period from 1993 to 2008.
374 of Ashwin’s 537 wickets came in wins, the fifth-best for any player. He is the only Indian to have 300 wickets in wins. His five-wicket haul in 31 innings is the second-best, behind only Muralitharan, who achieved the feat 41 times.
An impressive 69.65% of Ashwin’s career wickets came in wins, fourth among players with more than 300 career wickets. Only Glenn McGrath (73.53), Brett Lee (72.58), and Shane Warne (72.03) have a higher percentage.
His significant batting contributions have also helped secure victories, with five of his six Test centuries resulting in victories, while one resulted in a draw. Only 134 players have scored five or more centuries in Test wins, while his 374 wickets are the best, behind Jacques Kallis (182).
Apart from Ashwin, only Botham (8 centuries and 15 five-wicket hauls) has taken five or more centuries and five or more five-wicket hauls in Test wins. These impressive statistics have also led to Ashwin winning the Player of the Series award 11 times, equalling Muralitharan’s record.
He took more than 25 wickets in six of the 11 series for which he was chosen the Player of the Series. Indeed, he finished seven successive Test series with 25 or more wickets in each, an Indian record.
Master of the new ball and a threat to left-handed batsmen
Ashwin does have the knack of bowling better with the new ball, unlike many a fast bowler. He has opened for India 54 times and has taken 180 wickets. Among the Test spinners, only Rangana Herath took 100 wickets while opening for his country when he picked 104 scalps.
His average as an opening bowler is 19.27, the fifth-best among the 89 bowlers in world cricket to take more than 100 wickets. His strike rate of 39.9 is only behind Herath’s 39.4.
Even when not opening the bowling, Ashwin has been reasonably successful with the new ball. He has taken 133 wickets in the first 20 overs of an innings, behind only James Anderson (213) and Broad (176) since the start of 2002.
Ashwin’s batting average against them in that phase is 21.49, the third-best among the 42 players who have bowled more than 400 overs, behind Glenn McGrath (20.52) and Vernon Philander (21.05).
Ashwin’s prowess against left-handers is well-documented. He has taken 268 wickets against them, just one less than his 269 against right-handers. Anderson is the only other bowler to take more than 200 left-hand wickets, with 221 wickets.
Ashwin’s batting average against left-handers is 19.85, the lowest among the 54 bowlers to take more than 50 left-hand wickets since the start of 2002.
Behind only Kumble
Ashwin has the second-best wickets for India in all forms of the game, including 765 wickets. None but Kumble tops him and has 953. His list of wickets in international cricket puts him at number 11. This is among the six players having more than 4000 runs and above 750 wickets in international cricket.
Ashwin is one of the 15 bowlers to achieve 150 wickets in ODIs for India, and he also has 74 T20 International wickets, making him the sixth-highest wicket-taker for India in men’s T20 Internationals. Among spinners, he is the highest wicket-taker for India after Yuzvendra Chahal’s 98 wickets.
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