Ashwin Breaks 62-Year-Old Record With His Century & Five-Wicket Haul In 1st Test Against Bangladesh

India beat Bangladesh by 280 runs on Sunday (September 22) to win the first Test of the ongoing two-match series. In the match played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the Rohit Sharma-led side dismissed the Najmul Hossain Shanto & Co. for 234 runs in the second innings after setting up a target of 515 runs for them to chase down and win the match. World No. 1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin picked up six wickets for India, and Ravindra Jadeja accounted for the dismissal of three Bangladeshi batters.

By dismissing six batters in the second innings of the match, 38-years-and-five-days-old Ashwin became the oldest Indian cricketer in history to take a five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He broke Vinoo Mankad’s record, who picked up five wickets for India against Pakistan in the Peshawar Test (1955) at the age of 37 years and 306 days.

Apart from his super show with the ball, Ashwin also scored a century in the first innings of the Chennai Test. He top-scored for India by amassing a total of 113 runs from 133 balls with the help of 11 fours and 2 sixes. The century and five-wicket haul in the series opener against Bangladesh helped Ashwin break Polly Umrigar’s 62-year-old record and became the oldest Indian cricketer in Test history to achieve the feat.

Umrigar was 36 years and seven days old when he played a Test match in 1962 against the West Indies in Port of Spain. In that match, he scored 172 runs (not out) and picked up five wickets for 107 runs in the first inning.

The 113-run knock and figures of 6 for 88 in the second inning also helped Ashwin become the first player in the world to score a century and take a five-wicket haul on the same ground twice. In his last Test at Chepauk Stadium as well, which was played against England in February 2021, Ashwin scored 106 runs and dismissed 5 batters for 43 runs to seal India’s win.

Ashwin has scored a century and picked up a five-wicket haul in the same Test on as many as four occasions now. Former England all-rounder and captain Ian Botham, who has achieved the same time five times, is the only player ahead of Ashwin now.