[Watch] Ravichandran Ashwin cleans up Tagenarine Chanderpaul with an absolute ripper
Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin once again showed why he is so lethal against left-handers as he cleaned up West Indies opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul on the opening day of the first Test at Dominica.
Chanderpaul and Kraigg Brathwaite had seen off the new ball burst from the Indians, but Ashwin's craft was too good for the young southpaw. Ashwin, from around the wicket, got the ball to drift into Chanderpaul. The youngster did the right thing by going forward and trying to defend, but the ball held its line and rattled Tagenarine Chanderpaul's stumps.
The southpaw seemed in disbelief as he kept looking at his stumps, presumably wondering how the ball went past his defenses.
Here's a video of Ravichandran Ashwin's magical delivery:
Ravichandran Ashwin once again stepping up for India when it matters
Ravichandran Ashwin wasn't a part of India's World Test Championship (WTC) final playing XI. But he has come to the party in fine fashion in the ongoing Test against the West Indies.
Mohammed Siraj and Jaydev Unadkat did ask a few questions, but after opting to bat first, it seemed like the West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul had seen off the threat. However, Ashwin has now sent both the openers packing through some high-quality spin bowling.
The veteran off-spinner first got Chanderpaul with an absolute beauty and then built pressure on Brathwaite at the other end. The West Indies captain went for a wild slog to release some pressure, but could only hit it straight up and Rohit Sharma completed a pretty simple catch at short cover.
After being asked to bowl first, India will be pretty satisfied with the way things have panned out so far. They would be keen to take at least one more West Indies wicket before the two teams head for a lunch break.