NEW DELHI: Senior off-spinner
Ravichandran Ashwin
on Friday joined the elite club of Indian bowlers, following in the footsteps of former skipper Anil Kumble, as he reached the remarkable milestone of
500 Test wickets
during the third Test against England in Rajkot.
In accomplishing this feat, Ashwin also distinguished himself as only the third off-spinner in history to achieve such a remarkable record.
Currently, he holds the position of being India's second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, trailing behind the legendary Anil Kumble, who concluded his illustrious career with a total of 619 wickets.
The 37-year-old achieved this milestone on the second day of the ongoing Test match. His pursuit of the milestone required just one more wicket, and it was opener
Zak Crawley
who became the symbolic 500th victim.
Crawley's mistimed sweep found its way into the safe hands of Rajat Patidar at short fine leg, cementing Ashwin's place in cricket history.
This was after India were earlier bowled out for 445 in their first innings.
The only other off-spinners who have touched the 500 wickets mark are retired Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralidaran (800) and Australia's Nathan Lyon (517), who did it last year.
Overall, Ashwin is only the ninth bowler to take 500 wickets in the traditional format, scaling the landmark in his 98th Test.
Having made his Test debut in 2011, Ashwin has come a long way.
The engineering graduate from Chennai started out as a top-order batter and tried his hand at medium pace bowling before settling for the role of an off-spinner, a decision that was forced by a back injury during his teenage years.
Following the Kumble and
Harbhajan Singh
era, Ashwin had big shoes to fill and he has done that with remarkable consistency.
In his first 16 Tests, Ashwin snared nine five-wicket hauls and became the fastest to the 300 wickets club.
Ashwin has also proved his worth in the shorter formats, having played 116 ODIS for his 156 wickets in the format. He has 72 wickets in 65 T20 International appearances.
(With inputs from PTI)
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