"It was like him asking, 'Am I not worthy of playing in a WTC final?'" - Danish Kaneria on Ravichandran Ashwin's fifer in Dominica Test

Danish Kaneria reserved high praise for India's Ravichandran Ashwin as the veteran spinner spun a web around West Indies on Day 1 (Wednesday, July 12) of their Test series opener at Windsor Park in Dominica.

The former Pakistan cricketer stated that Ashwin's performance was the perfect answer to India's team management who dropped him from the playing XI in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2023) final against Australia.

Ashwin shone with the ball on the opening day, picking up five wickets as India bundled out the hosts for a paltry score of 150. It was the 33rd five-wicket haul for the crafty spinner in Test matches.

Commenting on Ashwin's bowling exploits, Kaneria said on his YouTube channel:

"What an outstanding bowler Ravichandran Ashwin is. He delivered once again. His performance was like an answer to the team management It was like him asking, 'Am I not worthy of playing in a WTC final?' He let the ball do the talking."

Notably, Ravindra Jadeja also took three wickets in the innings, while pacers Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur finished with a solitary scalp each.

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"Have to get the pace right to trouble the batsmen" - Ravichandran Ashwin on the Windsor Park wicket

Speaking after the end of day's play, Ravichandran Ashwin pointed out that the pitch at Windsor Park was quite dry. He suggested that he had to rely on varying his pace to trouble the batters.

It is worth mentioning that during the innings, Ashwin also became the 16th bowler in international cricket to claim 700 wickets in Tests.

Shedding light on the conditions, he remarked:

"Thought it was a pretty good performance. There was a bit of moisture on the pitch earlier but it started to spin later. Saw on the TV as well that it turned more later. Had to adapt early. It was a bit dry, have to get the pace right to trouble the batsmen."

Team India finished at 80/0 at stumps on Day 1, trailing West Indies by 70 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten on 40 and 30, respectively.