Birthday Special: Top five performances by Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin (C) celebrates after getting the wicket of Ed Cowan of Australia during day three of the Fourth Test between Australia and India at Adelaide Oval on January 26, 2012 in Adelaide, Australia. (Getty Images)

1. 12 /198 vs. Australia (First Test, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Chennai, February 2013)

In a game made all the more famous by a brutal innings from Dhoni, Ashwin nearly stole the skipper’s thunder with his own sparkling performance till date, as he ran roughshod over the Aussies with his bag of tricks in the first Test of the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

He knew the environs well, having spent a lot of his playing days at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, and also knew that Australia had four left-handers in their line-up. Forming a penetrative triumvirate with the feisty Harbhajan Singh and the resurgent Ravindra Jadeja, the local boy tormented the rival line-up with his immaculate line and even managed to extract steep bounce from the pitch.

He trapped Ed Cowan in both innings with cleverly flighted and turning deliveries, with the batsman seeing red after his second-innings dismissal. Michael Clarke hit him for a six, but the bowler hit back by rapping him on the back pad with a delivery that didn’t bounce much. Only Moises Henriques was able to counter his threat, scoring resolute half-centuries in both innings, but Ashwin made the ball talk as he completed yet another twelve-for in Test cricket.