India's Ravichandran Ashwin reclaimed the top spot in the test bowler's rankings on Wednesday following his nine-wicket haul in the fifth and final test against England last week.
India's chess great Viswanathan Anand took to social media last week congratulating Ravichandran Ashwin on the cricketer's 100th Test and asking if the spinner fancied a game of chess with him.
England, chasing a consolation victory in the five-match Test series against India, will be banking on two pacers and two spinners to do the trick in the final game in Dharamsala on Thursday. .England announced their lone change for the game, with seamer Ollie Robinson making way for fast
Ponting worked closely with Ashwin at Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where the former Australian captain is the head coach.
Ashwin, 37, is set to reach the landmark in the fifth and final match of England's tour starting Thursday in the brisk Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala.
India reached 40-0 at stumps, needing another 152 to win their third straight match and the five-Test series.
Ben Duckett hit 153 and skipper Ben Stokes made 41 in his 100th Test but England lost wickets at regular intervals
India's Ravichandran Ashwin withdrew from the ongoing third Test against England on Friday due to "a family medical emergency", just hours after becoming only the ninth player in history to take 500 Test wickets.
Opener Ben Duckett smashed a century to lead England's attacking reply of 207-2 on Friday after Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reached 500 Test wickets in the third match of the series.
Ben Stokes will earn his 100th Test cap when he leads England against India in the third Test beginning Thursday in Rajkot, with both sides having to contend with the absence of key players.
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took a match haul of nine wickets to lead India's 106-run win over England in the second Test on Monday and level the five-match series.
Ashwin is the only specialist off-spinner in India's 15-man squad.
A day packed with action at Queen's Park Oval in between short, sharp showers saw Mohammed Siraj scything through the lower half of the home side's first innings in the morning to earn his team a 183-run lead
Ashwin got excellent support from fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja (3-26) with the only resistance of note coming from debutant batsman Alick Athanaze, who at least gave the home fans something to smile about as the 24-year-old left-handed Dominican stroked his way to 47 before being eighth out just before the tea interval
India’s decision to exclude Ravichandran Ashwin in their eleven against Australia in the recently concluded ICC World Test Championship Final came as a shock to many, especially with the off-spinner being the number one-ranked Test bowler.
Ashwin and Jadeja destroyed Australia's batting to set up a six-wicket victory in Delhi on Sunday and give India an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series
The world number one side were crushed by an innings and 132 runs inside three days on a bone-dry pitch
The hosts took a commanding first-innings lead of 223 in Nagpur and then bowled out Australia for 91 in the second session to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
Jadeja returned figures of 5-47 and fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets to bowl out Australia for 177 in the final session on a turning Nagpur pitch.