Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Tagenarine Chanderpaul with a beauty on day one of the first West Indies Test today (July 12), 12 years after he dismissed the opener’s father, Shivnarine, during his debut match in 2011, to achieve a rare feat in Test cricket.
Ashwin’s exclusion from last month’s World Test Championship final against Australia sparked a number of debates, but he marked his comeback to the XI with a peach of a delivery to send back Chanderpaul in the first innings.
Ashwin entered the attack in the eighth over, and conceded five runs from his first two overs, before sending down a wicket maiden. The fifth ball of the 13th over was on off stump and drifted in, forcing the left-handed Chanderpaul to lunge forward. However, it missed his outside edge and the ball snuck between the narrow gap between the bat and pad to cannon into the stumps. “A classical off-spinner’s wicket” exclaimed the commentator. Facing Ashwin for the first time in Test cricket, Chanderpaul departed for a 44-ball 12.
Ashwin had also dismissed the senior Chanderpaul when West Indies had come visiting in 2011. Playing his debut match, he caught Shivnarine lbw in the second innings.
With Tagenarine’s wicket, Ashwin became only the fifth bowler in Test cricket history to dismiss a father-son duo. Ian Botham and Wasim Akram dismissed Lance and Chris Cairns during their careers, while Mitchell Starc, Simon Harmer and now Ashwin have got the wickets of both Chanderpauls.
Indian viewers can watch the dismissal here:
When nothing happened, we 'turned' to Ashwin!
..#INDvWIonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/wwPuS1QZG2
— FanCode (@FanCode) July 12, 2023
