Ravichandran Ashwin ( pronunciation (help·info); born 17 September 1986) is an Indian international cricketer. An all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm off break, Ashwin plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket and captains Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League. He is the fastest Indian bowler (also in some records the fastest in the world) to reach the 50-, 100-, 150-, 200-, 250- and 300-wicket mark in Test cricket. In 2016, he became the third Indian to win the ICC Cricketer of the Year award.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin at the CEAT Cricket Awards in June 2014
Personal information
Born	(1986-09-17) 17 September 1986 (age 32) Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Nickname	Ash
Height	6 ft 2 in (188cm)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Bowling all-rounder
Website	rashwin.in
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 271)	6 November 2011 v West Indies
Last Test	30 August 2018 v England
ODI debut (cap 185)	5 June 2010 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	18 June 2017 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.	99
T20I debut (cap 30)	12 June 2010 v Zimbabwe
Last T20I	9 July 2017 v West Indies
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2006/07–present	Tamil Nadu
2008–2015	Chennai Super Kings (squad no. 99)
2016-2017	Rising Pune Supergiant (squad no. 99)
2017 -present	Worcestershire
2018-present	Kings XI Punjab (squad no. 23)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 59 111 46 99 Runs scored 2186 675 123 3567 Batting average 29.95 16.07 30.75 32.13 100s/50s 4/11 0/1 0/0 6/19 Top score 124 65 31* 124 Balls bowled 16915 6021 1026 26967 Wickets 323 150 52 476 Bowling average 25.17 32.91 22.94 26.76 5 wickets in innings 26 0 0 39 10 wickets in match 7 n/a n/a 10 Best bowling 7/59 4/25 4/8 7/59 Catches/stumpings 21/- 30/- 8/- 40/-
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 30 August 2018

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 in June 2010. 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.

Ashwin continued to succeed in the subcontinent but proved to be less effective in other places like Australia and England. In a home Test series against Australia in 2013, he took 29 wickets, the most by any Indian bowler in a four-match Test series. The same year, he took his 100th Test wicket in his 18th match, becoming the fastest Indian bowler to the milestone and the fastest in the world in over 80 years. In 2017, playing his 45th Test, Ashwin became the fastest player to pick up 250 Test wickets, bettering Dennis Lillee, who had achieved the landmark in 48 Tests.

Ashwin is the only bowler in recent times, apart from Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis to bowl the carrom ball. With four centuries in his Test career so far, Ashwin has earned the reputation of being a bowling all-rounder. He was a recipient of the Arjuna Award in 2014 and the BCCI's international cricketer of the year for the 2012–13 season. He also won the ICC Cricketer of the year 2016 along with ICC Test Cricketer of the year 2016 in December 2016.