Former India coach Ravi Shastri announced Ravichandran after the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at the Gabba Test in Brisbane Ravichandran Ashwin retires. Shastri reveals what makes recently retired Ashwin such a special player.
Ashwin leaves a rich legacy as one of India’s finest match-winners, while Ravi Shastri witnessed many match-winning efforts during his tenure as head coach.
The 62-year-old feels Ashwin has evolved with time and the top off-spinner is always looking to learn new tricks.
“I think what stands out to me is that he always wants to develop. He’s not the kind of person who is unhappy with where he starts,” Shastri said in the latest episode of ICC Review.
“He wanted to learn new skills. He pursued it, practiced hard and kept looking for new things as his career developed to keep up with the times,” he added.
The 38-year-old Ashwin’s record is the second most successful Indian bowler in international cricket with 765 wickets (537 of them in Tests), behind only Anil Kumble (953) .
“His legacy will be to be a great match-winner, a mythical record, 537 runs. I mean anyone over 500 (in Test cricket) is special,” Shas said. Terry said.
The former India coach also highlighted Ashwin’s improvement over the decade, with the bowler taking 175 scalps in Tests at an average of 21.18 (above his career average of 24).
“For him to do it in the span and the way he does it, especially in terms of bowling over the last four or five years, I think in India, along with (Ravindra) Jadeja, I think they’re a terrific A pair of people, real twins of spin,” said Shastri.
“They complement each other very well and inspire each other, so I would say a lot of Jadeja’s wickets in the last five or six years have come because of Ashwin and vice versa,” he added.
Praising Ashwin’s versatility, the former India coach said the spinner had the same record against left- and right-handed batsmen (269 wickets against right-handed batsmen vs. 268 wickets against left-hand batsmen). wickets), which goes to show how good spinners can be regardless of the opponent and style of play.
“To me, it’s a trick on his part to try to be good at his craft, (especially) in the last two or three years, the way he’s passed the ball in the right direction and given it a tear, And letting it fall on the batsman in a drifting way makes him stand out,” Shastri said.
“You look at his record against right-handers, left-handers, you know, it’s very similar, and that says it all. It doesn’t matter to him who his opponent is. You know, he’s prepared for it, ” he added.