It is well known that India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin enjoys bowling to left-handers. Overall, Ashwin has scalped 365 wickets in his Test career. Out of these 365 wickets, Ashwin has dismissed left-handers on 181 occasions at an impressive average of 20.2. Ashwin was able to have his wood on the Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara as well.
The off-spinner dismissed Sangakkara on four occasions in the 2015 Test series in Sri Lanka and reckons he was in the form of his life. In fact, Sangakkara was in the fag end of his career at that stage but there is no denying the fact that he was still in good form. Ashwin also dismissed Sangakkara on three occasions in the ODI fold.
Ashwin added that he likes bowling on the Sri Lankan pitches as they not only have the turn for the spinners but also there is good bounce, which helps in keeping the slips in play.
Overall, Ashwin bowled 56 balls to Sangakkara in which the batsman scored 23 runs in the Test matches whereas the spinner was able to get rid of him on four occasions.
“I was bowling like a dream to left-handers. I felt like whenever I saw any left-hander I could see who he was,” Ashwin said while talking Mazher Arshad
“And I loved bowling in Sri Lanka. Because Sri Lanka pitches are not big on the spin, but they have a good bounce and speed to carry an edge to the slips. So, I really enjoyed bowling in that phase of my career. It was about the right time in the right place. Sangakkara was about to finish his career, and I was about to take off my career. So, I found myself at the right time of my career against Sanga,” he further added.
Ashwin has savoured great success in the sub-continent conditions and his records are the testimony of the same. The off-spinner has scalped 297 wickets in 50 Test matches, which he has played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh collectively at a splendid average of 22.58.
Ashwin is currently out of contention from the limited-overs setup but he is a key member of India’s Test squad.
Meanwhile, Kumar Sangakkara had a good record against the spinners but Ashwin was able to dominate him. Sangakkara scored 2311 runs in 114 innings at an impressive average of 64.2 when he was facing the off-spinners in his Test career. The stylish batsman finished with 12400 Test runs at an impressive average of 57.40 in 134 Test matches.
