'Southpaw slayer' Ashwin surpasses Muralitharan to add feather to illustrious cap
Dec 30, 2020
Melbourne [Australia], December 30 : India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has added another feather to his cap as he surpassed Sri Lanka spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan to become the bowler to dismiss most left-handers in the longest format of the game.
Ashwin achieved the feat in the Boxing Day Test when he dismissed Josh Hazlewood to bundle Australia out for 200 in the second innings on Tuesday. Muralitharan, who is the leading wicket-taker (800) in Tests, had dismissed 191 left-handers in his career.
England pacer James Anderson is third in the list and has claimed the wicket of 186 southpaws. Australia's Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne have dismissed 172 left-handers each, however, the spinner is the leading wicket-taker for the Aussies in Test.
Ashwin has been in brilliant form in the ongoing Test series against Australia. The senior campaigner is the leading wicket-taker for India in the ongoing series with 10 scalps under his belt.
Australian batsmen are finding it hard to decode Ashwin's bowling. Steve Smith too admitted that he has allowed the India spinner to dictate terms in their battle in the ongoing Test series.
Smith, who has been dismissed twice by Ashwin in the ongoing Test series, said he hasn't allowed any other spinner to dictate terms like the Indian spinner did to him.
"I probably haven't played Ashwin as well as I would've liked; I probably would've liked to have put him under a bit more pressure. I've sort of let him dictate terms and that's something I've probably never let any spinner do in my career," Smith told SEN radio.
"I've sort of taken it to them, been a bit more aggressive and made them change things. I haven't allowed that to happen, probably because I'm searching for just being out there for long enough," he added.
India levelled the four-match series on Tuesday after securing an eight-wicket win in the Boxing Day Test. The third Test between both teams will begin on January 7.
