Not Anil Kumble! R Ashwin Names 44-Year-Old India Legend As His 'Inspiration'; Reveals Copying Bowling Action

Ravichandran Ashwin started India's home Test season by sending a timely reminder to Indian cricket fans that in home conditions he is the most important player of the Rohit Sharma-led side with a stunning all-round performance in the Chennai Test against Bangladesh.Ashwin rescued the team from a tough spot in the first innings by scoring a century and putting up a 199-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja for the seventh wicket. Ashwin scored a knock of 113, making the 6th Test ton of his career. While Ashwin had a rare quiet outing with the ball in the first innings and went wicketless, he made up for it in the second innings by taking six wickets as India sealed a 280-run victory.

Ravichandran Ashwin Names His Inspiration Post India's victory in Chennai, Ashwin reflected on his impact on Indian cricket. The 38-year-old recalled he replaced Harbhajan Singh in the Indian team and named the 103-Test veteran as his inspiration while revealing he used to copy his bowling action."I can't really comment on what sort of impact I have had on this Test match. I had huge shoes to fill, I came in to replace Harbhajan, I used to replicate his action in junior cricket, he was an inspiration to me. Constantly people have doubted if I could deliver in red-ball as I came from IPL, lots of people have come and helped me," said Ashwin in the post-match press conference. R Ashwin vs Harbhajan Singh Two years ago during India's home series against Sri Lanka, Ashwin broke Harbhajan Singh's record as India's highest wicket-taker among off-spinners. Ashwin has 522 wickets in 101 Test matches while Harbhajan took 417 scalps in 103 games. Ashwin is India's second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket history only behind Anil Kumble (619). The 38-year-old became the second Indian to register 500 wickets in the longest format of the game earlier this year against England. In the same series, Ashwin played the 100th Test of his career in Dharamshala.