Ravichandran Ashwin, a day after taking a five-wicket haul in the second Test against England, put on a brilliant performance with the bat, scoring his fifth Test century on Monday. As soon as Ashwin reached the three-figure mark with a boundary, fans and cricket experts took to Twitter to salute his batting masterclass that saw him hit 14 fours and a six. Former and current cricketers from both India and England tipped their hats to Ashwin's sensational century on a tough pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium -- his home ground. After England's first innings folded for 134 runs on the second day, there were much talk about pitch not at all suitable for batting. After Ashwin's century, former India batsman VVS Laxman praised Ashwin for battling hard on a tough track and scoring a brilliant hundred.
"Great things never come from comfort zone and this is great knock from @ashwinravi99. Also showed it's going to be hard batting on this pitch but hard does not mean impossible. Nothing but RESPECT Ash #INDvsENG," Laxman tweeted.
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain also took to Twitter to praise Ashwin's superb knock. "Well played Chennai's Super King !! Brilliant 100 from Ravi Ashwin," he tweeted.
Harbhajan Singh, whose record Ashwin broke on Sunday, saluted Ashwin innings and commended him for showing others how to bat on a spinning track.
"Wonderful from Ashwin. I was beginning to fear that the batsman in him was getting lost. On a difficult track, this century is a gem," tweeted commentator Harsha Bhogle.
Ashwin finally got out for 106 runs as India were bowled out for 286 in the second innings, setting England a mammoth target of 481 runs to chase down in the fourth innings. Besides Ashwin, skipper Virat Kohli also scored a crucial fifty and put on a 96-run stand for the seventh wicket.