Ravichandran Ashwin's 3 best 'comeback' bowling performancesÂ
India's spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin made a big statement on Day 1 of the opening Test against the West Indies, bagging a fifer and derailing the hosts as India bowled them out for 150 after Kraigg Braithwaite won the toss and opted to bat.
Having been left out of the WTC final against Australia, Ashwin came out all guns blazing, and the Windies batters were left scratching their heads. The Windies openers batted out the initial burst from Mohammed Siraj and Jaydev Unadkat, but the introduction of Ashwin turned the game around.
He induced a false shot from Braithwaite's bat after castling Tagenarine Chanderpaul with a trademark off-spinner's delivery, which spun just enough to disturb the timbers.
The rest of the Indian bowlers also chipped in. On a pitch that was aiding the spinners, Ravindra Jadeja managed to get the ball to bite from the surface and ended up bagging three wickets.
Ashwin then came back to bag the wickets of Alzarri Joseph and Alick Athanze before the tea interval. He completed his five-wicket haul in the post-tea session, when Shubman Gill took a brilliant diving catch at short leg.
In response, the Indian openers were unfazed. Debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal took some time to get his first run, but once he was set, it was a sheer delight to watch him bat.
Coming back to Ashwin, this was not the first time that he performed admirably after getting dropped. That said, let us have a look at three other instances when Ravichandran Ashwin made a great comeback after getting dropped.
#1 1st Test vs South Africa in Vishakapatnam, 2019
The wizardry of the off-spinner was on display during the opening Test against the South Africans back in 2019. Just before the series, Ashwin was dropped from the playing XI in both Tests in the Caribbean Islands despite a great record there.
Ashwin had to bear the brunt but again displayed his class and temperament on a relatively barren wicket at Vizag. India had posted a mammoth score of 502 in their first innings, riding on a double century and a century from Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma, respectively.
Ashwin started the slide for South Africa with the wickets of Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn. The visitors were going down meekly when their skipper, Dean Elgar,held the fort and shared a staggering partnership with Quinton de Kock.
It was Ashwin who broke the partnership and played a pivotal part in bowling them out for 431. He finished with figures of 7/145 in the first inning.
He just managed one more in the second inning, but his exploits in the first were enough to hand India a comfortable victory by 203 runs.
#2 1st Test vs Australia in Adelaide, 2020
Over the course of his Test career, Ashwin had to bear the brunt of getting dropped despite being the leading wicket-taker. It all came down to the team combination for overseas conditions, and the team management felt that it was better to play Jadeja, who was a better batter.
Ashwin was dropped from the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington in 2020. India went down meekly and lost the series 0-2. India was slated to tour Australia next, and the wily off-spinner didn't disappoint in his first match at the Adelaide Oval.
Ashwin bagged four crucial wickets, including the likes of Steve Smith and Travis Head. The former, who is arguably the greatest Test batter, was flummoxed by the offie.
Despite his figures of 4/55, India suffered a heartbreaking defeat after getting bowled out for 36 runs in the second innings.
#3 1st Test vs New Zealand in Kanpur, 2021
In home conditions, Ashwin has been the standout performer for India. He has hardly been dropped in the subcontinental conditions, and his record is proof of what he brings to the table when the pitch is assisting the spinners.
Back in 2021, Ashwin had to warm the benches for all four Tests of the England tour. Despite making a mark on the previous tour with regular wickets, he never got a chance in that series, and the think tank and Virat Kohli were lambasted by the cricketing pundits.
The final Test of the series had to be postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. New Zealand was slated to tour India in November, and yet again Ashwin showed his class.
In the first Test at Kanpur, he bagged three wickets each in the two innings as India narrowly missed out on a victory as New Zealand's last pair, Ajaz Patel and Rachin Ravindra, played out the last 10 overs to salvage a draw.