After trampling over South Africa in the first Test match at Visakhapatnam, Indian captain Virat Kohli hailed the relentless nature of his bowlers for wheeling away on a surface which was not entirely supportive. Ashwin was the star of the show in the first innings, while the fast bowlers, especially Shami, stood up to be counted in the second innings.
As far as numbers are concerned, the combination of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja is a relentless, match-winning machine for Kohli, more so when the side is playing in India. India have now won 25 of the 33 Tests Ashwin and Jadeja have played together. If we compare them to the last potent combination of spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, there is a huge difference – Kuble and Harbhajan were part of 21 out of 54 wins for India when playing as a combination.
In home conditions, Ashwin and Jadeja are irresistible, they have been part of a winning team in 22 out of the 29 matches won by the Indian team and have combined to take 329 wickets. Their bowling average is 21.29 while the strike rate reads 51.91.
Now, we pit these numbers against the combination of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. They have been part of 14 matches that India have won when they played together out of 34 matches. Together, they picked up 356 wickets at an average of 27.23 and with a strike rate of 62.63.
If these bare numbers are taken into account, there is no doubt that the combination of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are absolute gun bowlers for Virat Kohli and such is their potency that no opposition has been able to come with any sort of strategy to keep them at bay.
After his stellar performance in Vizag, Ashwin made a comeback to the top 10 after his match haul of eight wickets, which included figures of seven for 145 in the first innings.
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