IND vs WI: He is one of the greatest match-winners – Paras Mhambrey heaps praise on THIS veteran

India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has backed Ravichandran Ashwin as one of the greatest match-winners in the history of Indian cricket after he produced another match-winning performance on Day 3 of the Dominica Test on Friday, July 14 evening. Ashwin, produced a magical spell on Friday as India beat hosts West Indies by an innings and 141 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The Tamil Nadu veteran spinner bagged 12 wickets in the match including seven in the second innings of West Indies.

Ashwin’s biggest match-winner?

“As a team, we realise how valuable R Ashwin is. In my opinion, he is one of the greatest match-winners for India. There have been very few match-winners like him. The number of matches he has helped us win what can I say,” Mhambrey said in the post-match after India beat the hosts.

India were at their fluent best contest as they asserted their dominance in the first World Test Championship (WTC) match. Ashwin’s brilliance turned out to be the difference-maker having bagged 60/5 in the first innings and followed that with 71/7 in the second innings. He now has 486 wickets in the red-ball format and is closing in on the 500-wicket mark.

“When we came here on Day 1, it was a bit dry, and when we checked the stats of the local games we found out that spinners dominated in those games. We felt as the game progresses it will be difficult for batting and the other thing is how we use the wicket,” Mhambrey added.

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What happened in the match?

India continued from 312/2 at the start of Day 3 and added another 109 runs before deciding to declare the innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 171 runs in his debut innings before he was scalped by Alzarri Joseph while Virat Kohli missed out on a hundred and was dismissed on 76. India would then turn the screw in the second innings of West Indies and win the contest by an innings. Despite being at his best, it was Jaiswal who was adjourned Player of the Match in the contest.

The second Test between India and West Indies will take start on Thursday, July 20 in Trinidad.

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