"He has continued to evolve": Ricky Ponting hails Ashwin ahead of spinner's 100th Test
Mar 06, 2024
Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], March 6 : Australia legend Ricky Ponting reminisced his time with Indian spin wizard Ravichandran Ashwin at the Indian Premiere League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals and hailed the star India player for his accomplishments.
India and England will lock horns in the fifth and final Test of the series in Dharamshala from Thursday, which will be Ashwin's 100th Test.
In 99 Tests so far, Ashwin has taken 507 wickets at an average of 23.91, including 35 five-wicket hauls, with the best bowling figures of 7/59.
Ashwin is about to become the fourteenth cricketer from India to reach the 100 Test match mark, capping an incredible and illustrious career that many players aspire for.
Every time Ashwin adjusts his arm over in a game, records tumble. In the current series against England, he has not only crossed the 500-wicket barrier but also surpassed Anil Kumble for the record for most Test wickets taken in India and most five-wicket hauls.
In terms of Test five-fors, he only trails ICC Hall of Famers Muttiah Muralidaran, Shane Warne, and Richard Hadlee.
"He's a master of spin in any conditions. He's been an incredible cricketer, no doubt about it," Ponting said on the latest episode of the ICC Review.
"I had a chance to coach him for a couple of years at Delhi and loved working with him. He's got a lot of theories and philosophies on the game, which I like. He's always done things a little bit differently and done things his way. But he just continued to evolve as a bowler," he added.
"That's the thing that I loved about him when I was coaching him, he'd stand at the end of his mark and he'd be working on something different, a little tweak to his action or a change of grip or a different delivery. He's never been one that was going to die wondering about trying to find ways to get better," the Australia legend said.
India has the series in the bag after taking an unassailable 3-1 lead.
England has faced three consecutive losses in the series, unable to capitalise on their early 1-0 advantage following a narrow victory in Hyderabad.
The visitors had their chances, notably in Rajkot and Ranchi, but India came back strong on both occasions to win.
