India veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 11 wickets in the two Test match series against Bangladesh. He also smashed a much-needed century in the first Test match at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai when India where reeling. Ashwin was awarded Player of the Series for his outstanding performance in the Test series against Bangladesh. With that award, he equalled Muttiah Muralitharan's record of winning this title the most number of times in Test cricket i.e. 11 times. He is just a win away from creating a new World record.
Ashwin took 15 wickets in the West Indies
Team India won the two-Test series 1-0 on the West Indies tour. Ashwin also bowled the best spell in Tests against West Indies, taking 7 wickets for 71 runs in the first match of this Test series. Apart from taking 15 wickets in two matches, he also performed brilliantly in batting. Despite this, after the series ended in Port of Spain, the West Indies Cricket Board forgot to give Ashwin the Player of the Series award during the presentation. That title was not listed in Ashwin's achievement.
Windies Cricket Board's take on Ashwin's award
According to the news published in the Indian Express, when Cricket West Indies was contacted regarding this matter, they pointed towards an Indian agency that used to handle the sponsorship work. But when it was contacted, the Indian agency said that they only look after commercial matters. The responsibility of the Player of the Series award comes under Cricket West Indies.
Ashwin misses the World record
If Ashwin managed to get that Player of the Series award he would have created a world record by winning the Player of the Series title during the Kanpur Test match. However, Ashwin is at the top of this list because he won the Player of the Series award 11 times in just 39 Test series. Whereas Muralitharan had won this award 11 times in 61 Test series. Now Ashwin would like to create a world record by winning the Player of the Series award in the upcoming Test series against New Zealand.
