Published: Sep 04, 2015, 12:59 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 04, 2015, 12:59 PM (IST)
Ravichandran Ashwin was declared the Man of the Series in the three-Test series in Sri Lanka. It is his fourth such award in the five series which India won since his debut. BharathSeervi lists players with highest rate of winning Man of the Series award in Tests. READ: India’s 2-1 Test series win over Sri Lanka: Statistical highlights
Ravichandran Ashwin took 21 wickets at 18.09 with two five-fors and a ten-for in the Test series against Sri Lanka. He also scored a half-century in the third Test at SSC batting at No. 9. India won the series 2-1 and Ashwin was named Man of the Series. VVS Laxman column: A morale-boosting Test series win
In a career spanning 28 Tests in four year Ashwin has gone on to win four Man of the Series awards. He has played in just 11 Test series so far. Since Ashwin’s Test debut against West Indies in November 2011 the Indian team has won five Test series; Ashwin has been the Man of the Series in four of them. Astonishingly, he has won only three Man of the Match awards! READ: India vs Sri Lanka 2015, and teams winning a three-Test series after losing the first Test
There are players who win Tests, but Ashwin seems to be the one who wins series. In fact, he began his Test career with a Man of the Series award in his first series itself. He took 22 wickets and scored a century in the three Tests of his debut series. READ: India vs Sri Lanka Test series 2015: India marks out of 10
India’s Test series wins since Ashwin’s debut
| Margin | Opposition | Venue | Season | Man of the Series |
| 2-0 (3) | West Indies | Home | 2011-12 | RavichandranAshwin |
| 2-0 (2) | New Zealand | Home | 2012 | RavichandranAshwin |
| 4-0 (4) | Australia | Home | 2012-13 | RavichandranAshwin |
| 2-0 (2) | West Indies | Home | 2013-14 | Rohit Sharma |
| 2-1 (3) | Sri Lanka | Away | 2015 | RavichandranAshwin |
– The only series in which Ashwin did not win the award was the farewell series of Sachin Tendulkar against West Indies. Rohit Sharma scored two hundreds in two innings in his first series. READ: India finally break their shackles with historic series win against Sri Lanka
– Ashwin had a decent performance in that series: he claimed 12 wickets and scored a century.
– In these series victories, India lost only one Test match – to Sri Lanka at Galle.
Ashwin’s statistics in the series he won Man of the Series
| M | W | Ave | SR | 5WIs | 10WMs | R | Ave | 50s/100s | Opposition | Season |
| 3 | 22 | 22.90 | 46.30 | 2 | 0 | 121 | 40.33 | 0/1 | West Indies | 2011-12 |
| 2 | 18 | 13.11 | 29.70 | 3 | 1 | 69 | 69.00 | 0/0 | New Zealand | 2012 |
| 4 | 29 | 20.10 | 49.90 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 5.00 | 0/0 | Australia | 2012-13 |
| 3 | 21 | 18.09 | 32.80 | 2 | 1 | 94 | 15.66 | 0/1 | Sri Lanka | 2015 |
No player has even three Man of the Series awards in his first 28 Tests. All the others who got four or more such awards played more than 50. READ: Ishant Sharma takes 200th Test wicket on Day 5 of India vs Sri Lanka 2015, 3rd Test at Colombo (SSC)
Least matches and series among those who won four Man of the Series awards (less than 100)
| Player | Team | M | MoS |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 28 | 4 |
| Richard Hadlee | New Zealand | 86 | 8 |
| Imran Khan | Pakistan | 88 | 8 |
| Malcolm Marshall | West Indies | 81 | 6 |
| Dale Steyn | South Africa | 80 | 5 |
| Heath Streak | Zimbabwe | 65 | 4 |
| Curtly Ambrose | West Indies | 98 | 6 |
| Waqar Younis | Pakistan | 87 | 5 |
| Alan Donald | South Africa | 72 | 4 |
| Andrew Flintoff | England | 79 | 4 |
| Aravinda de Silva | Sri Lanka | 93 | 4 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 98 | 4 |
– Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan and Malcolm Marshall made their debuts in 1970s when the Man of the Match and Man of the Series were not common.
If a cut-off of two Man of the Series awards is considered, only Shane Bond (2 from 18 matches) had played fewer Tests than Ashwin.
This is a good start to Ashwin’s career. Only time will tell if he could maintain this throughout his career for a long time and keep winning series for India, especially overseas. READ: Did Ishant Sharma and Dhammika Prasad really cross a line in India vs Sri Lanka 2015, 3rd Test?
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at @SeerviBharath and on Facebook here)
