In the conclusion, there was a heartfelt moment when Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin gave each other a strong hug. After starting the match with the bat and putting India in a vulnerable position on the first day, they finished the job with the ball on Sunday morning, and the walk back to the pavilion seemed more like the start of their last lap of a career that came together in 2012.
Although Ashwin, who is 38, and Jadeja, who will turn 36 shortly, demonstrated throughout this Test why they will always be India’s most valuable players—especially at home—both in the current World Team Cycle and the one that begins in June of next year.
When the Bangladeshi attack asked all kinds of questions on the first day of this Test, India had all the answers thanks to Ashwin and Jadeja. India spent an hour on the field on Sunday, requiring six wickets from Bangladesh to take a 1-0 series lead, but they were unable to break the partnership that Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan were making.
However, after the drinks break, when the two bowled together in the opening over, it took them just 48 minutes to remove the final 6 wickets and deliver another thrilling victory at home, this time by a margin of 280 runs. This appears to be India’s chance to surpass the record of 18 Test series victories at home.
India’s last home series defeat came against England in 2012, right when the two teams began to gel at home. Indian spinners have always been crucial to home Test victories; but, in 45 Tests played together in India, Ashwin and Jadeja have only lost three (winning 34, or 75%) of them. Even in their prime, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were involved in six of the 34 defeats (winning 14 Tests, or 41%) they faced at home.
Throughout the lengthy history of Test cricket, inseparable partnerships have been observed in both bowling and batting; however, two all-rounders who can both hunt down wickets and make significant runs in the lower middle order have not been witnessed. Not since the post-World War II era of Australia’s Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller Only in Test cricket’s II era have two all-rounders tormented opponents simultaneously with the constancy that Ashwin and Jadeja have, particularly at home.
There hasn’t been a Test series when they haven’t made an impression, except for the most recent home series against Bangladesh in 2019. When the batsmen have battled in the past few years on difficult spin surfaces at home, Jadeja and Ashwin have been their rock.
Since they were able to secure a berth in the starting lineup for home Test matches, Ashwin and Jadeja have amassed 263 and 218 wickets in 45 matches combined. Jadeja has amassed 1910 runs at bat in them, trailing just Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara.
With 1141 runs, Ashwin has surpassed the combined totals of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Shikhar Dhawan. Ashwin is tied with Rahane for the most hundreds scored at home, surpassing both Dhawan and Rahul. They have been the go-to players in times of need, both with the bat and the ball, from MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma.
Although they may not be as prominent as Kohli, Rohit, and Jasprit Bumrah on the Indian team, they have proven to be the most successful players. It’s the reason why head coach Gautam Gambhir played down the lack of a seam-bowling all-round player. They were, in a sense, rivals, but now they are developing each other’s businesses. As soon as they entered the Test
setup, Ashwin versus. Jadeja has been the case. They complement each other with both the bat and the ball at home, having managed to coexist with their diverse skill set. Above all, it is because of this spin combination that India is such a challenging team to win Test matches against.
However, Ashwin acknowledged on Sunday that it has evolved into more of a culture of mutual adoration. I’m envious of him. While I greatly admire him, I am envious of him. Over the past four to five years, I have grown to respect him even more than I did before. There are moments when you compete, you are driven, and you are in a race with your fellow competitors.
Even within a team, you want to outpace one another. It resembles brothers joining forces. After that, you gradually begin to admire one another. Knowing that I would never be able to match Jadeja has increased my appreciation for her. After winning his 10th Man of the Match award on Sunday, Ashwin stated, “I am comfortable in my skin but inspired by what he has done.” This puts him on a level with his idol, Anil Kumble.
Ashwin and Jadeja had to work hard to earn the wickets in the second innings, although the margin of victory suggested that it would be another one-sided match. Though there were difficult areas to improve, they were aware that they possessed the know-how to maximize the circumstances.