Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin ( pronunciation ; born 17 September 1986) is an Indian international cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and right-arm off break bowler. He plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket and the Rising Pune Supergiants in Indian Premier League. He is the fastest Indian bowler to reach the 50-, 100- and 150-wicket mark in Test cricket.

Having achieved little success as an opening batsman at junior-level cricket, Ashwin dropped down the order and turned into an off break bowler. He made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in December 2006, and captained the team the following season. But it was not until the 2010 Indian Premier League in which he played for the Chennai Super Kings, that he came into the limelight with his economical bowling and earned his maiden international call-up in the limited-overs formats. He was the leading wicket-taker and player of the tournament of the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa. He was also part of the Indian squad that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Later that year, he made his Test debut against West Indies and became the seventh Indian to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut. He took two five-wicket hauls and scored a century in that series and won the player of the series award.