Iceland Cricket likens R Ashwin to Richard Hadlee, Shane Warne

Ireland Cricket made a rather hard-hitting comparison of veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin with the likes of the late Shane Warne and Sir Richard Hadlee. Team India is currently playing Bangladesh in the first of the two-match Test series in Chattogram.

After electing to bat first, the KL Rahul-led side lost their top order in quick time, however, crucial knocks from Cheteshwar Pujara, Shreyas Iyer, and Ravichandran Ashwin got the derailed side, back on track. Veteran spinner Ashwin’s batting may not be as potent as his bowling but he can get a few good scores on certain occasions. The 36-year-old scored a hard-fought 58 off 113 deliveries thereby attaining a major milestone as he completed 3,000 runs in Test cricket.

Ireland cricket took to their social media to share a stat, drawing a comparison with the legendary Shane Warne and New Zealand great, Richard Hadlee.

When people compile lists of the greatest Test all-rounders, Ravi Ashwin's name is rarely present. But he has nearly 3,000 runs at almost the same average as Hadlee, with five centuries. Not to mention nearly 450 wickets at a lower average than Warne.

— Iceland Cricket (@icelandcricket) December 15, 2022

Ashwin currently has a Test batting average of 26.88, which is close to the numbers of Richard Hadlee (27.16). Furthermore, Ashwin’s bowling average is also slightly lesser (24.13) than the late spin wizard, Warne’s average (25.41).

Bangladesh bundled out for 150 runs in first innings

The vital knocks by Ashwin, Iyer, and vice-captain Pujara propelled the side to post a total of 404 in their first batting innings. In response, the Shakib Al Hasan-led side were bundled out for just 150 runs in their innings.

It was Kuldeep Yadav’s fifer (5/40) and Mohammed Siraj’s three wickets (3/20) that swiftly put the Bangladesh side in the backfoot. Now, KL Rahul and Co. will look to dominate once again in the second innings with the bat and obtain a result in their favour.