Ravichandran Ashwin has been on a milestone-achieving spree in the recently concluded two-Test series against Sri Lanka. With the last wicket in the pink-ball Test at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium to help India win by a massive margin of 238 runs, Ashwin became the first bowler to take 100 wickets in World Test Championship (WTC) history.
Ashwin finished as the highest wicket-taker in the two-Test series with 12 wickets to his name at an average of 15.08. With the last wicket of Sri Lankan tailender Vishwa Fernando, Ashwin also equalled former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne’s unique feat. This was the 22nd time the 35-year-old has taken the last wicket in a Test, the same number as the legendary spinner.
After Ashwin, Pat Cummins is most likely to breach the three figures in WTC history. He is seven wickets away from the milestone. The Australian skipper is current playing against Pakistan in the second Test of the three-Test series.
Ashwin took a total of six wickets in the pink-ball Test, two in first innings and, four in the last innings. On Day 3, Ashwin also surpassed former South African pacer Dale Steyn to become the eighth-highest wicket-taker in the format.
Also, in the previous Test in Mohali, Ashwin surpassed former Indian skipper Kapil Dev to become the second-highest wicket-taker for India in the format.
The Tamil Nadu-born spinner now has 442 wickets from 86 Tests at an average of 24.13 including 30 five-wicket hauls and seven 10-fers in a match. He is on his way to become the second-fastest to 450 Test wickets after former Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who is also the highest wicket-taker with 800 scalps to his name.
“The pink ball was a bit of a challenge this game as we are coming from a red-ball game and the ball behaves differently, so it took a couple of overs every time we got into a spell. It is about being there in the moment, getting into the spell and getting into rhythm. I enjoyed the spell today. It is a combination of a lot of things and it is an internal battle to try and understand the rhythm and pace I want to bowl,” Ashwin said after India’s big win in Bengaluru under Rohit Sharma’s leadership.
