Team India, without the services of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, scripted yet another emphatic win against Australia and subsequently wrapped up the three-match series with an unassailable 2-0 lead. While the batters stole the limelight with the pair of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer scoring their respective centuries before KL Rahul continued his sublime form to score another fifty while Suryakumar Yadav put on a blitzkrieg knock with a career-best score as India amassed 399 for five, it as veteran spinner Ravinchandran Ashwin, who is only playing his second consecutive ODI game in 20 months, who led the charge in bowling with a world record-scripting show in Indore on Sunday. And while the act may have gone unnoticed amid the six fifty-plus scores on the batting friendly Holkar Stadium track, Yuzvendra Chahal shared a stunning post on Ashwin which instantly went viral.
After Prasidh Krishna sparked an early breakthrough with two wickets in two balls, sending stand-in skipper Steve Smith for a golden duck, Australia looked to revive with David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne stitching an 8-run stand for the third wicket. Warner was the aggressor in the partnership with his another half-century knock as he attacked the Indian bowlers, including going right-handed against Ashwin.
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The senior offie, who made a return to the Indian ODI set-up only earlier this week after Axar Patel was injured, sparked a collapse by sticking to his strategy of carrom balls. He dismissed Labuschagne in the 13th over and a seven deliveries later took down Warner in his act of right-handed batting before dismissing Josh Inglis in the same over.
Ashwin's quick wickets saw Australia fall from 89 for 2 to 101 for five in just 12 balls. With the three-wicket haul, Ashwin also became the highest wicket-taker for India in international cricket against a single opponent. Surpassing Kapil Dev (141 vs Pakistan) and Anil Kumble (142 vs Australia), Ashwin took his tally to 144 against the Aussies. 114 of those came in 22 Test appearances and 20 in 17 ODI matches, leaving the remaining 10 in nine T20I games.
{{/usCountry}}Ashwin's quick wickets saw Australia fall from 89 for 2 to 101 for five in just 12 balls. With the three-wicket haul, Ashwin also became the highest wicket-taker for India in international cricket against a single opponent. Surpassing Kapil Dev (141 vs Pakistan) and Anil Kumble (142 vs Australia), Ashwin took his tally to 144 against the Aussies. 114 of those came in 22 Test appearances and 20 in 17 ODI matches, leaving the remaining 10 in nine T20I games.
{{/usCountry}}Following the record show, Chahal took to social media to hail Ashwin as a legend in an epic five-word post. He wrote: “Ravichandran Ashwin name is enough @ashwinravi99 #Legend”
Ashwin's chance of appearing in the final tie against Australia in Rajkot on Wednesday now depends on Axar's recovery as the spin all-rounder is subject to clearing the fitness test.