Page 38 - The Indian EYE 031723

SPORTS MARCH 17, 2023 | The Indian Eye 38

AUSTRALIA IN INDIA

Ashwin becomes leading wicket-taker in

series as Aussie spinners show their class

Australian cricketers on Wednesday celebrated the festival of Holi ahead of the fourth Test
against India in Ahmedabad, which began on Thursday

OUR BUREAU
New Delhi
ndian spinner Ravichandran
Ashwin became the highest wick-
Iet-taker in the history of the Bor-
der-Gavaskar Trophy against Austra-
lia on Friday.
Ashwin accomplished this mile-
stone during India’s fourth and final
Test against Australia at the Naren-
dra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. In
the first innings, Ashwin weaved his
magic yet again on a pitch that did
not really offer much help to spin-
ners. He ended up with a spell of 6/91
in 47.2 overs.
He took key wickets of Travis
Head (32), Cameron Green (114),
Alex Carey (0), Mitchell Starc (6),
Nathan Lyon (34) and Todd Murphy
(41).

Now in 22 matches, Ashwin
has taken 113 wickets at
an average of 28.10 and an
economy rate of 2.71. His

best bowling figures in an in-
ning are 7/103 in BGT.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara celebrate the dismissal of Australia’s Cameron Green during
Lyon is the joint-highest wick-
et-taker in the history of the series, 8the Day 2 of the 4th Test Match in Ahmedabad on Friday (ANI)
with 113 wickets. But he is in the
second position as he has taken 26 Test cricket. The highest number of a big total. Khawaja also got the While talking in the pre-match
matches to reach this number. His Test five-wicket hauls are taken by third-highest score by an Australian conference the Indian opening bat-
average is 31.92 and his economy Sri Lankan spin wizard Mutthiah in India, with Matthew Hayden scor- ter believes that irrespective of the
rate is 3.09. His best bowling figures Muralidaran, who has a total of 67 ing 203 in 2001 in Chennai and Dean challenging conditions a batter al-
against India in Tests is 8/50. five-wicket hauls in the longer for- Jones scoring 210 in the same state ways has to find his own way of scor-
Ashwin and Lyon are followed mat. back in 1986. ing runs. The approach of the play-
by Indian spin legends Anil Kum- Ashwin is also the highest wick- er cannot change in a span of three
ble (111) and Harbhajan Singh (95). et-taker in the ongoing edition of the ‘I FEEL IT IS MORE MENTAL weeks so in the end it is about the
Ravindra Jadeja is the fifth-highest Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He has THAN SKILLS,’: ROHIT strong mindset that a batter appears
wicket-taker in BGT history, with 85 taken a total of 24 wickets in four with. In the pre-match conference,
wickets. matches, with the best figures of 6/91. day before the fourth Test, the he said, “We are just trying to fig-
Coming to the match, Australia
Indian captain Rohit Sharma
This was also Ashwin’s 26th scored a massive 480 runs in their A ure out more and more methods of
five-wicket haul in India, the most by emphasized on the fact that coming out on top when the pitches
any bowler in India. Overall, he has first innings. Centuries from Usman in the end, the result will depend on are challenging. Every individual is
a total of 32 five-wicket hauls, which Khawaja (180) and Cameron Green the mindset of players rather than different so they will find their own
is the fifth-highest in the history of (114) helped the visitors reach such skill. Continued on next page... >>

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