Celebrating the landmark moment for Ravichandran Ashwin, the Indian cricket team players decided to give the veteran off-spinner a guard of honour as he walked out on the Dharamsala ground to feature in a Test match for the 100th time. The moment of reckoning came for Ashwin as India took on England in the 5th and final Test of the series on Thursday. As players lined up in two rows for Ashwin's guard of honour, the spinner went to skipper Rohit Sharma and gave him a hug.
Ashwin, one of the finest players of his generation, also had his wife Prithi and two daughters present at the venue for the landmark occasion. Before the start of the match, head coach Rahul Dravid presented Ashwin with a special 100th Test cap.
As Ashwin walked through the guard of honour, a beautiful moment between him and captain Rohit was caught on camera. Here's the video:
Only 13 Indians have reached the 100 Test milestone before Ashwin. The veteran spinner joined the elite company of Sachin Tendulkar (200 Tests), Rahul Dravid (163 Tests), VVS Laxman (134 Tests), Anil Kumble (132 Tests), Kapil Dev (131 Tests), Sunil Gavaskar (125 Tests), Dilip Vengesarkar (116 Tests), Saurav Ganguly and Virat Kohli (113 Tests), Ishant Sharma (105 Tests), Cheteshwar Pujara, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag (103 Tests).
In 99 Tests so far, Ashwin has taken 507 wickets at an average of 23.91, including 35 five-wicket hauls, with the best bowling figures of 7/59. Combine it with his tally of 3,309 runs in 140 innings at an average of 26.14, with five centuries and 14 fifties and he is one of the most successful all-rounders of the modern era.
With ANI inputs