Credit: X
The world of cricket saw a new term emerge on social media called “ Raviball ,” as a counter to the highly famous “Bazball” strategy from England. A few users on X are calling Raviball an antidote to Bazball, wherein the Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja stifled the English batters from scoring quickly during the first Test in Hyderabad.
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The spin duo of Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja have been two of the leading wicket-takers for India in Test cricket for more than 10 years, especially in home conditions, where they generally run through the opposition lineups. Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja became the highest successful bowling partnership for India in Tests, surpassing the legendary duo of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble during Day 1 of the first Test match against England at home.
Origins of ‘Raviball’
At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Ashwin-Jadeja, the architects of Raviball, picked up their 503rd wicket in 50 Tests as a duo, in comparison to Harbhajan-Kumble attaining 501 wickets in 54 Tests.
During his 56th Test match in India, Ravi Ashwin has a highly impressive tally of 380 wickets in 108 innings at an average of 20.89, including 26 five-wicket hauls and six 10-wicket hauls. Meanwhile, his partner Ravi Jadeja is in his 41st Test match in India, picking up 197 wickets in 80 innings in his own right, at an average of 20.59, including 10 five-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket hauls.
IND vs END 1st Test Day 1: Ashwin and Jadeja dominate
Notably, Ashwin and Jadeja shared six wickets among themselves in the English batting lineup to help bowl them out for just 246 runs in their first innings on a decent pitch for batters. The English opening pair of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett fell to Ravi Ashwin.
While the next two batters in the lineup, namely Ollie Pope and Joe Root lost their wickets to Ravi Jadeja. At the end of Day 1, India were 119/1 with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill at the crease, trailing England by just 127 runs.
