Ravichandran Ashwin picked up the 20th five-wicket haul of his Test career as he helped India bowl New Zealand out for 299 in their first innings in the third Test in Indore. The off-spinner finished with figures of 6/81 and had a hand in two other dismissals, after two New Zealand batsmen were run out backing up at the non-strikers' end while he was bowling.
What's remarkable about Ashwin's haul of 20 five-wicket hauls in an innings is that they have come in just 39 Tests – that's one fifer every two matches, which is incredible. The other Indian bowlers to take 20 fifers are Harbhajan Singh (59 Tests), Anil Kumble (75 Tests) and Kapil Dev (98 Tests).
Ashwin is also eighth in the all-time leading wicket-takers list for India, with 213. At the rate he is going, by the time this long Indian home season ends in March next year, he should have overtaken Bishen Singh Bedi's 266 in fifth place. That would leave him with only Harbhajan (417) and Kumble (619) ahead of him among the spinners. He's got a long way to go before displacing either of them, but with an unbelievable average of under 25, don't put it beyond him.
Ashwin's critics have said that he is only effective in home conditions. One can understand why that is a convincing argument, considering 146 of his 213 wickets have been taken in India. However, his brilliant spells in the post-lunch and -tea sessions showed why the argument should not stand.
This third-day pitch in Indore is still in no way a rank turner and is proving to still be quite decent to bat on. It was Ashwin's intelligence, patience and resilience that got him the wickets, not the pitch, and a bit of luck.
As for the Kiwis, they would only have to look towards Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham – both of whom were dismissed after scoring half-centuries in the most unlucky of manners – to see how they should have batted. Neither Guptill nor Neesham is particularly known for playing spin, like their captain Kane Williamson, but they refused to be tied down and took the attack to Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
At stumps, India were at 18/0 and have got a mighty lead of 276 with two full days to go. There was some debate whether Virat Kohli should have enforced follow on, but considering the long season ahead and time left in this match, it should not be taken as a negative move.
