"I was an accidental spinner": Ashwin after claiming 500th Test wicket

Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], February 16 (ANI): Reflecting his storied cricketing journey after the reaching a massive career milestone of 500 Test wickets on the second day of the ongoing third Test against England on Friday, star India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin called himself an "accidental spinner".
Adressing a press conference after stumps were drawn on Day 2 at Rajkot, Ashwin revealed that he wanted to be a batter.
The 37-year-old added that after Sri Lankan spinning ace Muttiah Muralitharan, who still tops the list of wicket-takers in red-ball cricket, was unwilling to take the new ball for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), he was entrusted with the job.
"It's been a long journey. I was an accidental spinner, I wanted to be a batter all around. When I walked into the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) dressing room, Muttiah Muralitharan didn't wanna bowl the new ball and eventually, I got a chance to deliver the new ball. I had a reasonable first-class start to my life... People doubted whether I could become a Test bowler, 13 years later it's not a bad achievement. I am pretty glad," Ashwin said.
Ashwin picked up his 500th scalp after dismissing Zak Crawley during the post-Tea session of the Rajkot Test on Friday. The spin maestro became only the second Indian after the legendary Anil Kumble and ninth overall to take 500 wickets in Test cricket.
When asked about the pitch in Rajkot, the bowling all-rounder added that it will continue to stay a good batting pitch if the "cracks don't open up".
"It's a typical Rajkot wicket and will get slower. I think the way the game is going, if the cracks don't open up, the wicket will continue to stay pretty good for batting," he added.
Ashwin heaped praise on Ben Duckett, calling him a "phenomenal talent" for the English side. The Indian spinner also came out in praise of the slog sweep which was frequently deployed by the English opener to nullify the spin threat.
"He is a very different batter when he's at 60-70 runs for sure. A couple of shots (slog sweeps) that he hit were very special. Ben Duckett is a phenomenal talent in England. Credit to him, he has made a wonderful hundred today. I wanted to clap but I didn't. Very happy for him...," he added.
At Stumps on Day 2, England were sitting pretty at 207/2, trailing the hosts by 238 runs with Ben Duckett (133) and Joe Root (9) unbeaten at the crease.
Duckett reached the triple-figure mark in 88 balls after completing his fifty off just 39 balls.
England got off to a flying start, with Duckett putting the Indian bowlers to the sword and Crawley, too, going steady at the other end. The duo continued to pile up the runs at breakneck pace in the third session of Day 2 before the latter fell to Ashwin. (ANI)