Ravi Ashwin etched his name in the books of history after he became India’s leading wicket-taker in Test cricket against England. The veteran went past the legendary leg-spinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, who picked up 95 wickets from 23 wickets with 8 five-wicket hauls to his name. On the other hand, he is also one wicket away from picking 500 test wickets. Ashwin, if he can take one more wicket s during India vs England 2nd Test, will become the first Indian after Anil Kumble to take 500 Test wickets in international cricket.
Ashwin is playing his 97th Test and in the first innings of Hyderabad Test, he was the one who broke the 55-run opening partnership between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett by removing the latter leg before wicket. If the Indian off-spinner can claim the feat, he would become only the second bowler after Sri Lanka’s Muttaiah Muralidaran to get to the feat in less than 100 Tests. Murali reached 500 wickets in only 87 matches. Ashwin, who has been the fastest Indian to reach 50, 100, 150, 200, 350, 400 and 450 Test wickets, is also the fastest in the world to reach 250 and 300 Test wickets. While Ashwin reached 50 Test wickets in nine matches, he reached 100 Test wickets in 18 matches, 150 in 29 matches and 200 in 37 matches. The Tamil Nadu born set a world record by reaching 250 wickets in 45 matches and 300 wickets in 54 matches. He reached 350 Test wickets in 66 Tests and then took 11 more matches to get to 400 wickets in only his 77th Test match and reached the milestone of 450 Test wickets in his 89th Test.
