Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh): With the series in the bag, the Indian cricket team would look to win the fifth and final Test to make it memorable for ace India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who will be playing the 100th match, against England when the two team lock horns at HPCA Stadium here, commencing from March 7.
With a keen cricketing intellect and a diverse bowling repertoire, Ashwin has become one of the premier spinners and wicket-takers in the longest format for India. And what could be best for a cricketer, to achieve the 500th wicket landmark in the earlier game and then feature in your 100th red ball game in the next Test?
The 37-year-old will become the 14th Indian cricketer to achieve this landmark. He will now join elite list of Indian cricketers led by the cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar (200), followed by current head coach Rahul Dravid (163), VVS Laxman (134), leg-spinner Anil Kumble (132), veteran Kapil Dev (131), legendary Sunil Gavaskar (125), Dilip Vegsarkar (116), former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly (113), Virat Kohli (113*), Ishant Sharma (105), off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (103), Cheteshwar Pujara (103), and former opener Virender Sehwag (103).
Coming to the match, with the series of disappointing performances, Rajat Patidar, who made his debut in the Visakhapatnam Test, might have to make way for Karnataka batter southpaw Devdutt Paddikal. Patidar had faced six consecutive failures, amassing a mere 63 runs in three Tests with a highest score of 32.
Paddikal has been travelling with the Indian team for the last two matches but had to warm the benches. He will be keen to showcase his prowess at number four with Virat Kohli unavailable for the series. The 23-year-old had smashed 151, 193, and 103 in the Ranji Trophy before receiving a maiden call-up for India. The southpaw has 2,227 runs under his belt in just 31 first-class matches.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah returning to the squad after taking a much-deserved break in the Ranchi Test, he is expected to lead the pace attack. But it remains to be seen whether Bumrah will replace one of his fellow pacers or skipper Rohit Sharma and team management opt to go with two spinners and three pacers. If the team management decides to go with two spinners, Kuldeep Yadav, who has picked four wickets in the first innings of the only Test India played against Australia at this picturesque HPCA stadium in 2017, may have to sit out.
Emerging star Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is the leading run-scorer of the series so far, has the opportunity to surpass legendary Sunil Gavaskar's (771 runs) 42-year-old record of most runs in the Test series for India. Jaiswal has racked up 655 runs with back-to-back double-hundreds and needs just 117 runs to overtake the Mumbai batter.
India has played only one game at this picturesque venue, way back in 2017 when Ajinkya Rahane-led India thrashed Australia by eight wickets to clinch the four-match series by 2-1. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the player of the match with four wickets and an important 63-run knock in the first innings.
