'R Ashwin Has Lot of Theories on Cricket, Always Done Things Differently': Ricky Ponting Lauds 'Master of Spin'

Ravichandran Ashwin reached another milestone in his storied career during the first day of the fifth Test against England on Thursday in Dharamsala. The final fixture of the series marked Ashwin’s 100th appearance in Test cricket.

Ahead of the milestone Test, currently being played at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting expressed his admiration for Ashwin.

Also Read: Ashwin Felicitated, Receives Guard of Honour During Milestone 100th Test

He branded the 37-year-old as “a master of spin” who could dominate the game with his mystic bowling “in any conditions.”

Ashwin is only the 14th cricketer to have donned the whites for India in at least 100 Tests.

He has already claimed 507 wickets in this format. Ashwin is also India’s second-most successful bowler in Tests following legendary Anil Kumble, who bagged a total of 619 wickets during his illustrious career.

Ponting, while speaking on the latest episode of the ICC Review, reminisced about the time when he got the opportunity to work with Ashwin as the coach of Delhi Capitals.

The Indian spinner represented the franchise in the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) before joining Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2022 season.

“He (Ashwin) has been an incredible cricketer, no doubt about it. I had a chance to coach him for a couple of years in Delhi and loved working with him. He’s got a lot of theories and philosophies on the game, which I really like. He’s always done things a little bit differently and done things his own way. But he just continued to evolve as a bowler,” Ponting said.

Ashwin has been in excellent form in the ongoing Test series against England. He has taken as many as 17 wickets in the first four matches.

Ponting said, “That’s the thing that I loved about him when I was coaching him, he’d stand at the end of his mark and he’d be working on something different, a little tweak to his action or a change of grip or a different delivery. He’s never been one that was going to die wondering about trying to find ways to get better.”

Since making his Test debut back in 2011, Ashwin has picked 354 wickets on home soil which is the most by any Indian bowler.