10 Most talked about moments of Indian cricket in 2015

10. The Ashwin factor:

R Ashwin’s presence loomed large on all opposition batsmen throughout the year. In the 3-match series against Sri Lanka, he dismissed Kumar Sangakkara, who was retiring following the second Test, four consecutive times in his final four innings. Ashwin finished with 21 wickets and in the process broke the record for most wickets by an Indian bowler in a series against Sri Lanka. He was awarded the Man of the Series.

In November, he was a star performer throughout the Freedom Trophy Test series against South Africa in India. During this series, he became the fastest Indian to reach 150 wickets in Test cricket. In the third Test in Nagpur, he picked up 12 wickets for 98 runs to hand South Africa their first away series loss in 9 years. His career-best figures of 7/66 in the second innings bowled out the Proteas for 185 and gave India a 2–0 series win. His 31 wickets from 4 matches earned him another Man of the Series award.

“I see a lot of myself in Ashwin. He is a fantastic cricketer with a lot of work ethic. Obviously, he is a far better batsman than me,” said Anil Kumble about Ashwin; a huge compliment from India’s greatest match-winner in Test cricket. Ashwin’s witty replies to the media about Indian pitches and the opposition batsmen were also as big a hit as his bowling. With the series win against South Africa, India climbed two spots to Number 2 in the ICC Test rankings while Ashwin continued to hold on to the top spot in the ICC Test all-rounder rankings.