TNCA first division league: Ashwin hits hundred after disappointing New Zealand tour

Ravichandran Ashwin's 102 (180b, 13x4, 1x6) took MRC-A to 346 on day one of the ninth round match against Alwarpet in the TNCA first-division league in Chennai.

R Ashwin struggled with bat and ball in the recent tour to New Zealand.

Ravichandran Ashwin's 102 (180b, 13x4, 1x6) took MRC-A to 346 on day one of the ninth round match against Alwarpet in the TNCA first-division league in Chennai on Sunday. Ashwin was involved in a 100-run fourth-wicket stand with R. Srinivasan (87, 139b, 9x4, 1x6).

Ashwin's knock comes close on the heels of a disappointing two-match Test series in New Zealand, where he picked just four wickets in two matches and could manage only 20 runs in four innings. At the end of 2016, R Ashwin had 1816 runs in 44 Tests at 34.92, including four hundreds and 10 fifties.

However there has been in a dip in his batting form since the start of 2017: in the 27 Tests, he averages 17.36 and has scored only one half-century. "In the past, the only secret to how I have got runs or how I was successful was by looking to be positive and that's exactly how I played," Ashwin had said during the Wellington Test against New Zealand. "I feel I have been a little too watchful and a little too worried about getting out in the recent past.

"That's something I have tried getting over even in the games that I have played at home. Hopefully, I will try and put it to rest. Just see [the ball] and hit it. Far too much going in the head won't work."