Last Update on: September 25th, 2023 at 01:48 pm
India won the second ODI against Australia and there is a lot of praise for the Indian batters, but one of the players who silenced all the critics in that match was Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin troubled the Aussie batters and marked his return with an impressive figures of 3/41 in seven overs.
Ravichandran Ashwin returned to this format after 20 months. He was last included in the ODI series against South Africa which was played in January 2022. Ashwin came back to this format and showed what he could do as he picked up key wickets of David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, and Josh Inglis.
Talking about the match, India was put to bat first by the Aussies and the decision to bowl backfired on them as India managed to put up a mammoth total of 399/5. Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill both played brilliantly adding 200 runs for the second wicket and both of them completing their centuries. KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav then showed their swashbuckling style as both of them scored a quickfire half-century. Rahul scored 52 off 38 deliveries while Suryakumar Yadav scored 72 off just 37 deliveries.
In reply, Australia could only manage to get 217 on the board chasing the DLS-reduced target of 317 in 33 overs. They were bowled out on 217 as Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja both took 3 wickets each, destroying the Australian line-up.
Ravichandran Ashwin Breaks Anil Kumble’s Record
With his figures of 3/41, Ravichandran Ashwin broke Anil Kumble’s record of taking the most wickets for India against a single opponent. Ravichandran Ashwin has now taken 144 wickets against Australia surpassing Kumble’s record of 142 wickets against the same team. Coming back to the format after more than a year and breaking a record shows Ashwin’s capability in any format of the game. Ashwin now has 155 wickets in the ODI format.
Ravichandran Ashwin has not been included in India’s World Cup campaign but there have been talks about Axar Patel’s injury concerns and if he will be able to take part in the tournament. If Axar is not available then it is most likely that Ashwin will replace him in India’s squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
