Veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continued his assault on the record books and overhauled former India captain Kapil Dev's record on Day 2 of the ongoing third Test match against Australia. The right-arm offie, who had accounted for 686 wickets in international cricket prior to the commencement of Indore Test, needed just two wickets to leave Kapil (687) behind. While Ashwin had to wait for his first wicket in Indore, he didn't look back once struck for the first time in the 3rd Test.
Ashwin struck first on Day 2 and provided India the much-needed breakthrough. The willy spinner dragged the length back a little and forced Handscomb to take a giant strike and defend. The ball spun more as Handscomb played it straight to short leg fielder Shreyas Iyer. With that wicket, Ashwin tied Kapil Dev's tally of wicket in international cricket.
Ashwin continued to bowl tight lines. Carey came forward to counter spin but the ball beat the inside edge and hit his pad as Ashwin stormed ahead of Kapil. The Indian spinner then cleaned up Nathan Lyon to finish with three wickets in the first innings.
Most wickets for India in international cricket:
Anil Kumble: 953
Harbhajan Singh: 707
Ravichandran Ashwin: 689*
Kapil Dev: 687
Zaheer Khan: 597
Recently, Ashwin dethroned England's 40-year-old pacer James Anderson from the top of ICC Test Bowling Rankings. Ashwin claimed the top spot after taking six wickets in India’s six-wicket win in the second Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi last month.
The first time Ashwin became the no.1-ranked Test bowler was in 2015. Since then, he has been on the top several times. While the New Zealand vs England two-Test series has ended, Ashwin has a chance to extend his lead over other bowlers in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
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