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India vs Bangladesh: Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin etched his name in record books as he became the first ever cricketer in history to have scored 20-plus fifty plus scores along with 30-plus five wicket hauls in the longest format of the game. He thus became the first cricketer in the 147-year history of Test cricket to achieve the feat.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s blistering knock in the first innings of the first India vs Bangladesh Test in Chepauk Stadium Stadium in Chennai came to an end at 113 off 133 balls on Friday, September 20.
Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bowl first. The top-order collapsed with early wickets in quick succession and India was left at 34/3. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal made 56 in 118 balls, with nine fours and Rishabh Pant scored 39 in 52 balls,including with six fours to stitch a 62-run partnership for the fourth wicket, managing to bring India into the game.
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India was struggling at 144/6 when Ashwin started a fine counter-attack with Ravindra Jadeja, scoring 102* in 112 balls, including 10 fours and two sixes. He made runs at a strike rate of 91.07.
With this knock, Ashwin joined top all-rounders like Garfield Sobers (West Indies), Kapil Dev (India), Chris Cairns (New Zealand), and Ian Botham (England) to have multiple five-fors and multiple centuries at a venue in Test cricket.
The ton is Ashwin’s sixth century in red-ball cricket and his fourth from No.7 and below. For India, only Kapil Dev (7) has more centuries from No.7 and below in Tests.
Ashwin has four Test hundreds in Tests from position number eight or below. New Zealand all-rounder Daniel Vettori has the most number of tons from number eight or below in Tests, with five centuries.
Although he might have missed out on scoring his fastest fifty in Test cricket by a whisker, Ashwin made up for it by smashing his fastest-ever century in Tests.
Fastest century for Ravichandran Ashwin in Tests
- 108 balls vs Bangladesh, Chennai, 2024
- 117 balls vs West Indies, Mumbai, 2011
- 134 balls vs England, Chennai, 2021
- 159 balls vs West Indies, Kolkata, 2013
With his second century in Chennai, the 38-year-old became the fourth-oldest Indian to hit a ton in Test cricket. Only Vijay Merchant, Rahul Dravid and Vinoo Mankad were older when they hit a Test hundred for India.
Also Read: Breaking Records: The 10 Youngest Players To Score Test Century
Ashwin has 516 Test wickets in his kitty including 36 five-wicket hauls, the third joint-highest in the history of cricket. The Indian off-spinner is just one five-wicket haul away from equalling Shane Warne (37). The leader of this most five-haul wicket list is Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, with 67 five-wicket hauls.
