The stage was set for a 'Cometh the hour, cometh the man' kind of performance and the best spinner of the world, Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed the opportunity with both hands to guide India to a thrilling 75-run victory over Australia in the second Test at Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Having been slightly off colour by his standards in the first Test, Ashwin spun a web around the Aussies and broke a plethora of records.
Here are the statistical highlights of the day:
# Ravichandran Ashwin became the fourth Indian bowler to complete 200 wickets in Tests at home - his tally being 202 (ave.21.99) in 30 Tests. He has joined Anil Kumble (350), Harbhajan Singh (265) and Kapil Dev (219).
# Ashwin is averaging 19.21 in a winning cause in 27 Tests - his tally being 190 wickets, including 21 five-wicket hauls and six instances of ten wickets in a Test match.
# Ashwin has registered 25 instances of five wickets or more in an innings in 47 Tests, emulating Harbhajan Singh's feat of 25 instances in 103 Tests. Only one Indian bowler has recorded more such instances - 35 in 132 Tests by Anil Kumble.
# Ashwin has established a record for being the quickest to 25 five-wicket hauls - in 47 Tests - the fastest in Test cricket, outstripping Richard Hadlee's feat in 62 matches.
# Ashwin has taken his tally of wickets to 269 at 24.79 in 47 Tests, obliterating Bishan Singh Bedi's tally of 266 (ave.28.71) in 67 Tests. His aggregate is the fifth highest by an Indian bowler in Tests - the leading wicket-takers being Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434), Harbhajan Singh (417) and Zaheer Khan (311).
# With a win over Australia at Bangalore, Virat Kohli is enjoying winning percentage of 64.00 - his tally being 16 wins, three defeats and six drawn games out of 25 Tests.
# India, with a 75-run win, have recorded their second successive win over Australia at Bangalore. In the last Test played at this venue, India had defeated Australia by 7 wickets in October 2010. Australia have won two Tests while the remaining two Tests out of six at this venue could not produce results.
# India have successfully defended a score of less than 190 in the fourth innings in Tests five times - three times against Australia - at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1980-81; at Mumbai in 2004-05 and at Bangalore in 2016-17 and once each vs New Zealand at Mumbai (Brabourne Stadium) in 1969-70 and vs South Africa at Ahmedabad in 1996-97.
# India's win-margin by 75 runs is the third biggest for a team defending a target of less than 200 in the fourth innings - the best two are by 147 runs by West Indies vs England at Port of Spain in 1993-94 and by 89 runs by Australia vs South Africa at Melbourne 1910-11.
# Steven Smith's captaincy record in Tests reads as - 12 wins and 6 losses apart from four drawn games out of 22 played - winning % 54.54.
# Australia lost six wickets for 11 runs - 101 for 4 to 112 all out - their joint third-fastest six-wicket collapse. Australia had earned a dubious distinction (an unwanted record) when they lost six wickets for five runs - 244 for four to 249 all out - vs England at Nottingham in June 1953.
# Ajinkya Rahane (52) has posted his third fifty vs Australia - his 11th in Tests. Apart from three fifties, he has also registered a hundred vs Australia in Tests - 147 at Melbourne in December 2014.
# Pujara and Rahane were involved in a stand of 118 - India's highest fifth-wicket partnership vs Australia at Bangalore, obliterating the 93 between Gundappa Viswanath and Yashpal Sharma in September 1979.
# The above partnership is India's second highest fifth wicket stand in Tests at Bangalore behind the 300-run stand between Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh vs Pakistan in December 2007.
# The above partnership is the first century stand for any wicket in the present series.
# KL Rahul has got his second Man of the Match award in Tests for recording consistent performance - 90 & 51. His first such award was against Sri Lanka for scoring 108 & 2 at Colombo (PSS) in August 2015.
# Josh Hazlewood (6/67) has recorded his best bowling figures in Tests, surpassing the 6 for 70 vs New Zealand at Adelaide in 2015-16.
# Hazlewood's second five-wicket haul vs India is his fifth in Tests. He had first captured a five-wicket haul in Tests vs India at Brisbane in 2014-15.
# Hazlewood's above performance is the joint fifth-best by an Australian fast bowler in Tests on Indian soil - the best being Ray Lindwall's 7 for 43 at Chennai in 1956-57.
# Nathan Lyon's career-best bowling figures of 8 for 50 are the best by an Australian bowler in a losing cause in Tests. In all, his figures are the fifth best in a losing cause in Tests - the best being Kapil Dev's 9 for 83 vs West Indies at Ahmedabad in 1983-84.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Ravichandran Ashwin")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}