B'day Special: 10 rare facts about India's ace off spinner R Ashwin

New Delhi: If Virat Kohli is the star of Team India's batting line up then Ravichandran Ashwin certainly is the star of India's bowling attack.  R Ashwin won man of the series award in just concluded test series against Sri Lanka. Ashwin, with his spinning deliveries, has made many opposition batsmen dance to his tunes.

Even the legends of the game were not spared.  The latest being Kumar Sangakkara who was dismissed  four times by  Ashwin in the final two test matches that the Sri Lankan legend had played.  He was also awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award bythe Government of India for his contribution to the game of cricket.

Also Read: Virat Kohli always backs his teammates: Ravichandran Ashwin

As he steps into the 30th year of his life today,  IndiaTV brings you some of the lesser known facts about the India's most successful bowler of recent times:

1. It may be surprising for some that for Ashwin, cricket was not his first choice as he loved playing football.  He was known in his school and also among his friends as a football player who can use his height to the advantage and also kick the ball powerfully.

2. Ashwin is the fastest Indian bowler to take fifty test match wickets. He is on the top of the table and the legends like Anil Kumble, Prasanna and Harbhajan Singh come after him. He has taken 50 wickets in just nine test matches whereas Kumble took ten matches to reach the same feat.

3. Some critics may say that sometimes when a new bowler comes into the international arena, batsmen find it hard to play against him. But such is not the case with Ashwin. He has shown his class once again when he became the fastest Indian bowler to take 100 test wickets .  He reched the feat after playing only eighteen test matches whereas Prasanna took twenty matches to take 100 test match wickets.

4. Ashwin has showed signs that he could be the answer to India's inability to find an allrounder. However, few people know that Ashwin along with England's Ian Botham is the fastest to scalp fifty test wickets and also score 500 runs. He reached this unique record only in his 11th test match.

5. Muralitharan, a legend who is the world's highest wicket taker with 800 Test scalps, said that Ashwin has the potential to get to somewhere between 600 to 700 wickets.

6. R Ashwin became the 47th cricketer to receive the Arjuna Award.

7. Ravichandran Ashwin achieved a rare feat becoming only the third Indian cricketer to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in a Test match. He achieved this feat against West Indies.

8. Ashwin has taken five-wicket haul 12 times in test matches.

Also Read: R Ashwin breaks into top 10 ICC Test player rankings for bowlers

9. Ashwin took nine wickets in his maiden Test, the second-highest by an Indian debutant after Narendra Hirwani's 16, and won the Man-of-the-Match award.

10. R Ashwin married his childhood friend Preethi Narayanan on 13th November, 2011. It was a simple, private ceremony in Chennai, which was attended by family members and close friends.