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India's ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been a menace for batters touring India. In the last decade, Ashwin has kept the batters tied down on sub-continent conditions. At 37 years of age, Ashwin has 516 wickets in the Test format. He is India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the red-ball format. Also, he is one of the active cricketers at the international stage who won the ODI World Cup 2011 under MS Dhoni’s captaincy by beating Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium. The Tamil Nadu-born off-spinner is considered as one of the good students of the game and a shrewd tactician. Ashwin is often called ‘Ash’ by wicketkeepers behind the stumps. Here’s the fascinating story behind it.
Ashwin's nickname has a Bollywood connection. In a video, he once revealed that he is happy that he shares the nickname with Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
“My nickname is Ash and the name comes from shortening the whole name of mine and I like the name because there is a Bollywood connection, a Bollywood superstar shares the name with me,” Ashwin explained in a video in 2016.
The other nickname
The veteran off-spinner is also called 'The Scientist'. He is not the one who rests his laurels and finds new ways to outfox the batters. He did the same to an in-form Steve Smith in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Also, he does not let the batter gain advantage by flouting the rules of the game. His stance on ‘Mankad’ dismissal has led to a few many debates. However, he won the battle as the MCC clarified and classified it as a run out dismissal.
Ashwin's career in numbers
Ashwin made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the inaugural edition. He is among the top five Indian wicket-takers in the IPL history. He made his limited-overs debut in 2010 and Test debut in 2011. His last appearance in ODIs was in the World Cup 2023 final. He has not played a T20I since the semifinal defeat in T20 World Cup 2022. He is still an indispensable part of the Test team. He has been impressive with the bat too in Tests with five centuries and 14 fifties to his name so far.
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