Analyzing the impact of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as a pair in Test cricket
Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin brought down the curtains on his international career on Wednesday, December 18. At a press conference following the rain-hit third India vs Australia Test in Brisbane, which ended in a draw, the 38-year-old confirmed his decision to retire from international cricket.
Ashwin ended his career as India's second-highest wicket-taker in international cricket, as well as in the Test format. The Tamil Nadu cricketer played 287 matches for India across the three formats of the game, claiming 765 wickets at an average of 25.80, with 37 five-fers and eight 10-wicket match hauls. Only Anil Kumble (953) has taken more wickets for India in international cricket.
With 537 scalps in 106 Test matches, Ashwin is regarded as one of India's greatest match-winners in red-ball cricket. The off-spinner former a legendary association with left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who has 319 wickets in 78 Tests at an average of 24.05. As a pair, they won numerous Test matches for India at home with the ball and also shared a few defining partnerships with the bat in hand.
In the wake of Ashwin's retirement from international cricket, we do an in-depth statistical analysis of the impact Ashwin and Jadeja had as a pair in Test cricket.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja's bowling stats in Tests they played together
As a pair, Ashwin and Jadeja featured in 58 Test matches for India. In these games, the off-spinner claimed 317 wickets at an average of 22.32, with 24 five-fers. On the other hand, Jadeja picked up 270 wickets at an average of 20.91, with 14 five-fers. A cursory glance at the stats is enough to conclude that the two spinners flourished in each other's company by complementing one another.
Not surprisingly, most of Ashwin and Jadeja's success as a bowling pair came in home conditions. They were part of the same Indian playing XI in 49 home Tests. The off-spinner picked up 277 wickets at an average of 21.92, with 21 five-fers, which included his career-best figures of 7-59. Jadeja claimed 238 wickets at an average of 20.71, with 13 five-fers, including his career-best of 7-42.
Jadeja-Ashwin in away Tests: Not the same force
Owing to the team combination and pitch factor, the legendary spin duo played only eight away Tests together. In these games, Ashwin claimed 36 wickets at an average of 26.63, with three five-fers. Two of them, however, came in the West Indies, where he averaged 16.94 from three matches, while one of the five-fers was registered in Sri Lanka. Ashwin averaged 39.28 from two Tests in Australia.
Looking at Jadeja, he picked up 31 wickets in the eight away Tests, averaging 21.70, with one five-fer, which came in Sri Lanka. In two Test matches in Australia, he picked up seven scalps at an average of 15. The 36-year-old claimed one wicket in one Test in England, 13 from two Tests in Sri Lanka and 10 from three Test matches in the West Indies.
Ashwin and Jadeja’s bowling stats in Test matches they played together
The legendary Indian spin duo also played one Test match together at a neutral venue, which was the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in Southampton. Ashwin picked up four wickets in the game and Jadeja one.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja's batting stats in Tests they played together
With the bat, Ashwin scored 1,647 runs at an average of 24.58, with two hundreds, which included a best of 118. As for Jadeja, he notched up 2,348 runs at an average of 37.26, with three hundreds and a best of 175*. The duo added 199 runs for the seventh wicket against Bangladesh in Chennai in September 2024. Ashwin scored 113 and Jadeja 86 to rescue India from a precarious 144-6.
As a pair, Ashwin and Jadeja scored 709 runs for India in 21 Test innings while batting in the lower-order (seventh and eight wicket combined). They averaged a healthy 35.45, with two century stands and one fifty partnership. Only Kapil Dev-Syed Kirmani scored more runs as a lower-order pair for India in Tests. They totaled 836 runs in 21 innings at an average of 41.80.
Ashwin-Jadeja are above Kapil-Kirmani when it comes to most partnership runs for India in Tests at home for the seventh wicket for lower. The former combined to score 651 runs in 17 innings at an average of 40.68, with two century stands and one fifty partnership. The Kapil-Kirmani alliance added 617 runs in 14 innings at an average of 47.46, which included six half-century stands.