What does Ravichandran Ashwin's Test record in West Indies look like?

The upcoming India tour of the West Indies, which will include two Tests and six white-ball matches, comes at an intriguing time in Ravichandran Ashwin's career. West Indies are his favorite team. He made his Test debut and collected his first two five-wicket hauls and first two centuries against them too.

But he didn't play in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia despite being India's best bowler in the preceding two years owing to team combination issues. India lost and he was missed and calls were made for him to be the team's interim captain.

A lot has changed since he first toured West Indies in 2016 as well. Then India trusted him to bat at No. 5 and 6, before the wicketkeeper and Ravindra Jadeja. That went on for two more years but Rishabh Pant's emergence and Jadeja's improvement have pushed him behind in the batting order.

He'll most likely play both Tests but might question the wickets and runs he'll collect - how much do they matter if the team will still not consider him good enough, if and when they reach their third consecutive WTC final? And if his past records are anything to go by, Ashwin will perform well on the tour.

On that note, let's look at his batting and bowling numbers in the Carribean.

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Ashwin's batting record in West Indies

Ashwin, who recently said he would regret not choosing batting as his forte after retirement, enjoys an excellent record in the West Indies.

He scored 235 runs here in the three Tests (rain washed out most of the fourth Test) at an average of 58.75, which is better than his aggregate in every country he has played in. Out of Ashwin's five Test centuries, two came on this tour. In his first match here at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, he scored a magnificent 113 (253), his first ton outside India.

His 168-run partnership with Virat Kohli (who scored a double-ton) allowed India to declare at 566/8 and bowl West Indies out twice to win by an innings and 92 runs.

He only scored three runs in the second Test but played one of his best Test knocks in the third. India were struggling at 87/4 after batting first when Ashwin joined hands with Ajinkya Rahane first and then Wriddhiman Saha to help the visitors post 353. His 118 (297) included just six boundaries and a six and was mostly made of some excellent running between the wickets (35 singles, 19 doubles, and five triples).

India constantly trusted Ashwin to bat ahead of Saha and Ravindra Jadeja in that tour and he showed just how good he could be.

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Ashwin's bowling record in West Indies

Ashwin picked up 17 wickets in the four Tests at a brilliant average of 23.18. His bowling average is only better in India and Sri Lanka.

He claimed seven wickets for 83 in the first Test of the tour, which is his second-best bowling performance to date. It was also the third-best bowling spell by an overseas spinner in the country and the best in more than 50 years.

The 36-year-old followed it up with a five-wicket haul in the next Test before tapering off and picking up 1/114, 2/52, 1/28, and 1/22 (first innings of the rain-marred last Test) in the next four innings.