“He used to be a batter, I played as a spinner…”: Rohit recalls long-term association with Ashwin ahead of 100th Test

Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India]: Ahead of the fifth and final Test of the series against England, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma reminisced on his long-term association with veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, who is set to play his 100th Test on Thursday.

India and England will lock horns in the fifth and final Test of the series in Dharamshala from Thursday, which will be Ashwin’s 100th Test as well. In 99 Tests so far, Ashwin has taken 507 wickets at an average of 23.91, including 35 five-wicket hauls, with the best bowling figures of 7/59. Combine it with his tally of 3,309 runs in 140 innings at an average of 26.14, with five centuries and 14 fifties and he is one of the most successful all-rounders of the modern era.

Talking about Ashwin in the pre-match press conference, Rohit recalled when they used to play the age group cricket together at under 17 and under 19 levels. Rohit remembered that back then, Ashwin used to be a batter and open the innings while he used to be a spinner.

“It feels good if you get to see the fruits of all the labour you put in. I have been watching him for so many years. We played together in the Under-19s – we played in the Under-17s too – and he used to be a batter then, an opener, and he started bowling later. I used to bowl then, but I became a batsman, so it’s all gone upside-down, but it has gone well for Indian cricket,” said Rohit.

The skipper lauded Ashwin, calling him a “team player”. He said that during the third Rajkot Test, when the spinner was forced to leave the Test midway due to his mother’s hospitalisation, he later called up Rohit to say that he wanted to come back and complete the game. Rohit pointed out that such things are rarely visible in players.

“The biggest thing is that he’s a team player. We saw it during the Rajkot Test. It was quite a difficult situation for him, but he called me up and said he wanted to come back and do something for the team. You see these things very rarely in players, and when you have players like that in your team, you raise your head even higher,” said Rohit.

India and England will lock horns in the fifth and final Test of the series in Dharamshala from Thursday. India has won the series 3-1, handing England their first series loss under the leadership of Stokes and coach McCullum. At this point, England will be playing for their pride.

Both sides still have World Test Championship points to gain in Dharamsala, even though the series has been decided. India is on top of the World Test Championship standings while England is eighth on the points table. Winning the match will earn a side 12 crucial points while a draw will earn them four points.