On Saturday, Ravichandran Ashwin was in top form during the first match of the four-game Border-Gavaskar series held at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. At the time of writing, the 36-year-old took 4 wickets for 34 runs, reducing Australia to 62 for 5 after India scored 400 runs in their first innings. The visiting team was all out for only 177 runs after choosing to bat first, indicating that they might face a crushing defeat at the hands of Rohit Sharma and the Indian team.
Ashwin’s four wickets have been making waves, but the dismissal of David Warner has garnered the most attention. In 2017, when Australia last toured India, Warner had an average of 22 against Ashwin, and since Ashwin has a track record of being particularly effective against left-handed batsmen, their head-to-head showdown is expected to be a highly anticipated battle.
However, in the second innings, Warner was unable to match Ashwin’s performance. Despite scoring only two runs from 38 defensive balls, Warner broke free by hitting two consecutive fours against Ashwin. To be fair, both of Ashwin’s deliveries were slightly too high, allowing Warner to make the most of them. But on the next delivery, Ashwin bowled a slider that caught Warner off guard. The ball was pitched around the middle and leg stumps and hit Warner’s pads, leading to an LBW appeal from Ashwin. The umpire had no doubts and promptly raised his finger.
Although he knew it was a clear LBW, Warner sought counsel from Steve Smith on whether to review the decision. Smith believed that the ball might miss the leg stump and convinced Warner to use the DRS. The replay showed that Smith was partially correct, as the ball barely clipped the leg stump, although it was not as evident to the naked eye. However, the decision was upheld as “umpire’s call,” leaving both Warner and Smith dejected after the loss of the wicket.
Ashwin’s dismissal of Warner marked his 11th time taking the Australian batsman’s wicket in Test cricket, tying him for the most dismissals of any player by India’s veteran spinner. The only other player whom he has dismissed 11 times in Test matches is Ben Stokes.
