On the opening day of the first Test match between India and West Indies in Dominica, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin weaved his magic once again. The right-arm office bagged a five-wicket haul, his 33rd five-fer in international red-ball cricket, as India bundled out West Indies for just 150 runs. Apart from completing 700 wickets in international cricket, Ashwin also etched his name in an extremely rare list.
The Indian spinner became only the fifth bowler in Test cricket history to dismiss a father-son duo during his career. Ashwin achieved the milestone when he dismissed Tagenarine Chanderpaul. In 2011, the Tamil Nadu spinner bagged the wicket of Tagenarine's father Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Apart from Ashwin, four bowlers achieved the feat in Test cricket.
1. Ian Botham: The former England all-rounder was the first cricketer to achieve the rare feat. He dismissed New Zealand's Lance Cairns in 1976. Fourteen years later in 1992, the England legends bagged the wicket of Lance's son Chris Cairns.
2. Wasim Akram: Former Pakistan captain and legendary fast bowler dismissed Lance Cairns in 1985, and a decade later, the left-arm pacer bagged the wicket of Chris Cairns.
3. Mitchell Starc: Australia's premier pacer dismissed Shivnarine Chanderpaul in 2012 and ten years later in 2022, the left-arm pacer bagged the wicket of Shivnarine's son Tagenarine Chanderpaul.
4. Simon Harmer: South Africa off-spinner dismissed Shivnarine Chanderpaul in his debut match in 2015. In 2023, Harmer bagged the wicket of Tagenarine Chanderpaul when West Indies toured South Africa for a Test series.
Coming back to the ongoing Test between India and West Indies, Rohit Sharma's men dominated Day 1 took control of the game. The Windies' batters surrendered in front of India's spin duo of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who combined to pick eight wickets on the opening day. The veteran right-arm office bagged a five-wicket haul and Jadeja chipped in with three wickets as the hosts were bundled out for just 150 runs. In reply, Indian openers captain Rohit Sharma and debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched an unbeaten 80-run partnership before stumps of Day 1.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
Ravichandran Ashwin reflects on WTC final snub after five-fer against West Indies, says 'it could have been a very high point in my career...'
After Yashasvi Jaiswal's Test debut, out-of-favour India opener eyes comeback to Indian squad by making every opportunity count
