Not often do you see spinners striking in tandem on Day One of a Test match. In ideal conditions, you see the medium-pacers letting the ball do the talking on the opening day-and-a-half, then the pitch eases out nicely for batsmen to notch up tall scores and later, as the pitch wears out, the tweakers come into play.
But, on Thursday, the first day of the Tendulkar farewell Test on his home ground, partners in crime Pragyan Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin took eight wickets between them to skittle out the hapless West Indies’ line-up for almost nothing.
Ojha regained his confidence by picking up his sixth five-wicket haul – 5/40 – and with Ashwin, who became the fifth quickest in Test history to 100 wickets – in his 18th Test, wasted no time in earning India’s right to bat just before tea after Dhoni won the toss and chose to field.
Ojha was not the preferred left-arm spinner at the start of the year, losing his place to Ravindra Jadeja, and rightly so. When Jadeja ruled out of this series due to injury, Ojha did not seem like just wanting to just fill in the vacant place. He used the bounce that the pitch offered, and with the help of some poor shot selection by the Windies batsmen, returned a happy man. Happy being able to pick up five wickets in this landmark Tendulkar Test.
“This match belongs to Sachin paaji. I want to dedicate this five-wicket haul for him,” Ojha said. “It is a special one and I am really happy that I got this five-wicket haul in his 200th Test.”
Ojha dwelt on the importance of going back to the domestic circuit to get back the confidence.
“I always feel it is important to go back to domestic cricket and perform there. What our seniors have advised is that if you perform consistently in domestic cricket, they (selectors) will notice you.
I thank God I got another opportunity and got five wickets,” he said. “Rather than thinking about other things, I was just enjoying my bowling. I wanted to just go out there and give my best,” he said.
The 27-year-old does enjoy bowling at the Wankhede. He had picked up two five-wicket hauls in Tests prior to this – 6/47 against West Indies in 2011 and 5/143 vs England in 2012.
“I enjoy bowling at the Wankhede. There was some bounce on the pitch and as the ball got older, it started turning a bit. So it was all about sticking to your basics and keeping the tight line and length and putting pressure,” he said.
Ojha and Ashwin have struck a formidable partnership for India. They understand each other very well. If one keeps an end tight, the other doubles up the pressure from the other side and the end result is that it chokes the opposition batsmen completely. That’s what happened on Thursday.
Ashwin quickest Indian to 100
Ashwin became the fifth quickest in Test history and the quickest Indian to 100 wickets. He achieved this feat in his 18th Test.
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