Ashwin ends Murali's lone dominance, equals his long-standing world record with Bangladesh annihilation

Ravichandran Ashwin had a phenomenal Test series across the board against Bangladesh, looking to be in top form as he contributed with both bat and ball en route to India’s comfortable back-to-back wins in Chennai and Kanpur. In a series full of new records for the off-spinning all-rounder, he received the Player of the Series award and, in doing so, managed to set yet another record in his illustrious career. R Ashwin took 11 wickets and scored a century as he received another player of the series award. (Getty)

Ashwin took six wickets in Chennai and picked up five more in Kanpur to finish as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the series alongside Jasprit Bumrah. He also contributed to India's cause with an extremely significant century in Chennai. His partnership with Ravindra Jadeja at the Chepauk rescued India from a very tricky situation.

Remarkably, this is Ashwin’s 11th player of the series award — a number which ties him at the very top with Muttiah Muralitharan, also on 11, and puts him clear of Jacques Kallis.

Most player of the series awards in Tests

Muttiah Muralitharan: 11

Ravichandran Ashwin: 11

Jacques Kallis: 9

Imran Khan: 8

Richard Hadlee: 8

Shane Warne:8

The list of players is a true who’s-who of Test cricket’s greatest players in the last 50 years. The Player of the Series became a notable award in the 1980s. Despite this, players such as Hadlee and Imran Khan were able to rack up the numbers in the latter part of their careers.

Ashwin achieved his 11th win with a true all-round performance, with his match-winning performances not restricted to just his quality with the ball. Earlier in this series, Ashwin joined Warne for the second-most 5-fers in Test cricket, once again behind Muralitharan.

Ashwin’s 11 wickets in this series also took him to the top of the pile in terms of wickets taken in the WTC cycle of 2023-25. He now sits on 53, ahead of Josh Hazlewood on 51, and will be keen to add to that number in the three-match Test series against New Zealand.

With the Test series win in the bag, India prepare to continue the battle against Bangladesh with a three-match T20I series, with Suryakumar Yadav leading. This will be followed by three quick back-to-back Tests against New Zealand beginning on October 16th in Bangalore before the blockbuster tour of Australia, beginning in November to close out the year.

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