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India's ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin attended the Hockey Asian Champions Trophy 2023 match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan on Wednesday. He was present at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on August 9.
In a picture shared on social media, Ashwin was seen standing during the national anthem before the game. He was joined by none other than the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin.
Ashwin, who helped India beat Pakistan by five wickets in the 2022 T20 World Cup, proved lucky for his country's hockey team. The Indian side beat Pakistan 4-0 in their final group-stage match.
Skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace, while Jugraj Singh and Akashdeep Singh also got their names on the scoresheet. With the win, India also qualified for the Asian Champions Trophy semi-finals against Japan. The other two semifinalists are Malaysia and Korea.
Ravichandran Ashwin shone during India's last Test series win, 1-0 against West Indies
Ravichandran Ashwin recently starred with the ball as India beat West Indies 1-0 away from home. The off-spinner scalped 12 wickets in the opening Test as the visitors beat WI by an innings and 141 runs. The senior player then scalped three wickets in the second Test, which ended in a draw due to persistent rain.
The right-handed batter was equally handy with the bat, scoring 56. Ashwin’s heroics came after he was ignored by Team India for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia despite being the World No.1 Test bowler. India lost to Australia by 209 runs in the summit clash.
The 36-year-old offie will next be seen in action for India in the upcoming five-match Test series against England at home. The two teams will play their opening game in Hyderabad from January 25-29. The action will then shift to Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala for the remaining four Tests.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who has scalped 489 wickets in 94 games so far, will aim to become only the second Indian bowler to complete 500 wickets in Tests. Former India captain Anil Kumble is on top of the list with 619 scalps in 132 Tests.
