Stuck on 499 Wickets, Ravichandran Ashwin Faces “Just Chasing Milestone” Charge By England Great

India’s second Test against England, which ended on Monday, was all about domination by the hosts. Trailing 0-1 after the first Test and missing the services of top stars, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team had its task cut out. And they fulfilled their job to perfection with young batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill proving their talent with the bat along with Jasprit Bumrah showing why he is one of the best pacers in the world. Another veteran, Ravichandran Ashwin finished with three wickets in the second innings. One more wicket and he would have become only the second Indian bowler, after Anil Kumble, to have 500 Test wickets.

He is now stuck on 499 wickets and former England cricket team star Kevin Pietersen believes that Ashwin did not bowl up to his potential as he had the milestone approaching.

“Ashwin was just chasing milestone. That’s why he didn’t bowl as well as he could have bowled. He did get it right on occasions. I thought he was way more threatening bowling wider outside off-stump round the wicket. I think he bowled over the wicket way too much to the right-handers. He can change bowling over-bowling around-bowling over more,” Pietersen said on Jio Cinema after after India’s 106-run win over England on Monday.

The former England batter added that once Ashwin gets to the milestone, he will be a lot more relaxed.

“I’m certainly never going to say that he hasn’t got it or the England bowlers have found him out. He is a tremendous bowler and he’s got some big breakthroughs. It is about the team; it’s not about the individual. He will want one more wicket and when he gets that may you’ll see him a lot more relaxed, the shoulder drops and I can just now get on with the game,” he said.

Indian bowlers won an engrossing battle against England’s firebrand batting for a series-levelling 106-run victory in the second Test here on Monday, blunting ‘Bazball’ with their resilience in a roller-coaster contest.

Talking about the match, England began day four at 67 for one, chasing a record target of 399. They were bowled out for 292 in the extended afternoon session.

The visiting team’s no holds barred approach, which has largely been successful, did not work on this occasion as India picked up nine wickets over the course of two sessions to bounce back in the five-match series.

The third Test will be played in Rajkot from February 15.