Ashwin sparkles again at Chepauk !!

Gone are those days when Chennai would host Test match during Pongal ! – MA Chidambaram stadium perhaps no longer is the preferred Cricket stadium .. .. yet  Test no.2550 got underway in weather conditions that threatened to rain, but in the end it was another hot summer day in mid Sept.!!!

 

Will local lad Ravichandran Ashwin emulate once again the feat of JH Sinclair dating back to Apr 1899 in Test no. 59 ? 

The connoisseur of Test Cricket may not  have any  adverse comments to make –  for  the first time in seven years, a side chose to bowl in a Test in India involving India.   A perfect day for the Chennai duo - one by birth and the other via CSK. Both the morning and afternoon sessions saw 88 runs and 3 wickets. But 163 runs without a wicket in the final session ensured India were not just out of trouble 

In the morning when Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul failed – I thought of that  Test no. 787 – a 6 day match in Nov  1976 against New Zealand captained by Glenn Turner who had scored 2 centuries in inaugural World cup.    On the first day, no play was possible due to rain - Indians were off to a bad start as Sunil Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad were out with only 3 on board, both out to big burly Lance Cairns.  From 181/7  India went on to make 298 thanks to a fluent 64 by Venkat who hit 4 boundaries and a six off Petherick. Gundappa Vishwanath made 87 like the many good innings he had played at Chepauk and Kirmani made 44. 

This morning when India struggled at 34/3, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant, playing his first Test in nearly 700 days, added 62 for the fourth wicket.  Jaiswal made this his sixth straight home Test in which he has gone past 50. Pant began to look dangerous but immediately after  lunch, though, Pant fell, Jaiswal followed and Rahul failed.  India was 144/6 !!! – what did you predict at this stage ? 

In the world of cricket, there were four superstars who ruled the game during the 1970s and 1980s. Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee, and Kapil Dev were like the big bosses of cricket back then. They were the game’s best all rounders. Recapitulating their Test statistics, Kapil Dev scored 5248 runs and took 434 wickets with 6 centuries.  Imran made 3807 + 362 wickets and scored 6 test centuries.  Ian Botham was a far different batsman, who made 5200 runs + 383 wickets making 14 tons. Richard Hadlee made 3124 runs and 431 wickets, scored only 2 centuries. 

Whatever wished score was after 144/6 – India closed the day at 339 for 6 with Ashwin unbeaten on 102 and Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten on 86 !! – inching towards their 200 partnership. 

Ashwin despite his 500+ wickets has been kept out many a times and has been treated unfairly but the way he batted today with 10 boundaries and 2 over the ropes, he can certainly stake claim to play as a pure batter if not a quality allrounder.    With today’s Ash has scored 6 centuries.  One against Bangladesh, one against England (both at Chennai) and 4 against West Indies at Kolkatta, Gros Islet, Northsound and Wankhede.   

A perusal of the centuries scored by Indians reveal – Sachin Tendulkar at the summit with 51, Rahul Dravid 36, Sunil Gavaskar 34, Virat Kohli 29, Virender Sehwag 23 ….  ..and not many pure batsman too scored 6 centuries in Test.  No other all rounder other than legendary Kapil Dev (8) 

Jimmy Sinclair of South Africa bowled fast and hit the ball hard.  In Apr 1989 he made 106 at Cape Town (South Africa's first Test hundred) against the all-conquering England side led by Lord Hawke, also had a 5 wicket haul.  If Ashwin could take 5 he would make his record the 4^th time !! 

The other Chennai (rather CSK) boy Sir Ravindra Jadeja is close to achieving a rare milestone of 300 wickets and 3000 runs in Test cricket. In the history of Test cricket, only 10 players have managed to score 3000 runs and take 300 wickets. Jadeja needs just six more wickets to join this elite group. This achievement has been accomplished by only two other Indian cricketers, Kapil Dev and Ravichandran Ashwin.

 

With regards – S Sampathkumar
19.9.2024