Sunil Gavaskar advocates for R Ashwin to lead India in Dharamshala in honor of his 100th Test match

At the conclusion of day three in the fourth Test of the series, England set a target of 192 runs for India to chase. England's second innings saw a total of 145 runs, led by notable contributions from Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, and Zak Crawley. Indian bowlers, spearheaded by Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav, demonstrated strong performance, with Ashwin securing a five-wicket haul. As the day drew to a close, India stood at 40/0 with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the crease, requiring 152 runs for victory on the final day of the test match.

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Sunil Gavaskar wants R Ashwin to lead India in Dharamshala owing to his 100th Test appearance for India 

As he prepares to make his 100th Test appearance in Dharamsala next month, Ravichandran Ashwin put up a historic display in the Ranchi Test, taking five wickets, a record. The great Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar praised Ashwin's enormous contributions to the game and said he was looking forward to Ashwin leading the Indian team out on the pitch for his historic match. When Ashwin, 37, on the pitch in Dharamsala, he will become the 14th Indian cricket player to attain the incredible milestone of 100 Test matches. His remarkable effort on Day 3 of the 99th Test at Ranchi, when he took five wickets, turned the tide in the home team's favour.

Though there were questions about why Ashwin did not take five wickets in the first three Test matches against England, the seasoned off-spinner made an incredible comeback. He demolished England's top order on the third day of the fourth Test, preventing the visitors from building on their slim 46-run advantage in the first innings.

With his 35th five-wicket haul in Test matches, Ashwin tied the record held by Anil Kumble for the most innings in Indian cricket history with five or more wickets. In addition, he eclipsed Kumble's incredible record of 349 wickets in Test cricket played at home.

Ashwin was instrumental in knocking England out for only 145 runs in the third innings with a remarkable 5-wicket haul. India needed only 152 runs more to win the fourth Test and take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series after Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal got them off to a quick start in their chase, taking them to 40 for 0. Speaking on broadcasters, Sunil Gavaskar said: 

“India win tomorrow (Monday) and you all go to Dharamsala. I just hope Rohit Sharma allows you to lead the team onto the field when you take the field, that will be a gesture, wonderful honour for all that you have done for Indian cricket,”

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Ashwin thanked Gavaskar for sparking up the respective dialogue about the possible honour, but stated his delight with merely representing the senior national squad and enjoying his time in the dressing room. R Ashwin replied: 

“Sunny bhai, you are being too generous, I have no expectations out of all these things. I am well past all that. I am enjoying every single moment being with this team. The longer it lasts, the happier i will be,”