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Ravichandran Ashwin plays 100th ODI for India during 1st ODI against South Africa

Ravichandran Ashwin celebrated his 100th ODI with a wicket off his fourth delivery in the match.

Ravichandran Ashwin © Getty Images
Ravichandran Ashwin has been India’s premier bowler across formats over the last few years © Getty Images

Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s premier spinner, made his 100th One-Day International (ODI) appearance in the first ODI against South Africa at Green Park, Kanpur, on Sunday. Ashwin has been India’s best bowler across formats for some time now. Ever since replacing Harbhajan Singh as India’s leading off-spinner, he has done quite well in all formats of the game for India. At the start of the match he had 139 wickets at 31.40 with a wonderful economy rate of 4.82 and strike rate of 39. Though he has never taken a five-wicket haul, he is frequently among the wickets. Live Cricket Scorecard: India vs South Africa 2015, 1st ODI at Kanpur

Ashwin celebrated his 100th ODI with a wicket off his fourth delivery in the match. Till the 14th over he had bowled just one over. The wicket took his tally to 140 wickets in his 100th match, tied with Anil Kumble for most wickets after 100 ODIs for any Indian spinner. Ashwin is also talismanic in Test and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). In a mere 28 Tests he has captured as many as 145 wickets at an appreciable average of 28.44 and strike rate of 56.8. He has taken as many as 12 five-wicket hauls and three 10-fors in Tests. As for T20Is, he enjoys an average of 26.96 at an economy rate of 7.24, having taken 29 wickets in 28 T20Is. Of course, the value Ashwin brings to the team is not only with the ball. Apart from being a solid batsman, he is also a safe slip fielder. Though his ODI batting is not in league with his Test batting, an average of 32.44 for a No. 8 batsman with two centuries and five fifties in the longest format shows his class. Live Updates: India vs South Africa 2015, 1st ODI at Kanpur

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