During the third Test against England on Friday, senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the second Indian bowler to reach 500 Test wickets, behind former captain Anil Kumble.
Ashwin also became only the third off-spinner to reach the feat, and he remains India’s second most wicket-taker behind Kumble, who retired with 619 scalps.
The 37-year-old attained the milestone on the second day of the ongoing Test. He only needed one wicket to complete the feat, and it came from opener Zak Crawley, who mistimed a sweep that fell into the safe hands of Rajat Patidar at short fine leg.
The only two off-spinners to reach 500 wickets are departed Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralidaran (800) and Australia’s Nathan Lyon (517), who did so last year.
Overall, Ashwin is only the sixth bowler to reach 500 wickets in the traditional format, accomplishing the feat in his 97th Test.
Since his Test debut in 2011, Ashwin has gone a long way.
The engineering graduate from Chennai began his career as a top-order hitter and experimented with medium pace bowling before settling on the role of off-spinner, a decision prompted by a back injury sustained during his adolescence.
After the Kumble and Harbhajan Singh eras, Ashwin had large shoes to fill, and he has done so with surprising consistency.
Ashwin scored nine five-wicket hauls in his first 16 Tests, being the fastest to reach 300 wickets.
Ashwin has also proven his worth in shorter formats, having played 116 ODIS and taken 156 wickets. He has 72 wickets from 65 T20 International outings.
SAURASHTRA CRICKET ASSOCIATION HONORED RAVI ASHWIN WITH A MEMENTO TO COMMEMORATE HIS ACHIEVEMENT OF REACHING 500 TEST WICKETS
Saurashtra Cricket Association felicitated Ravichandran Ashwin on capturing 500th Test Cricket Wicket at Niranjan Shah Stadium. Memento presented by Shri Niranjan Shah, former Hon Secretary of BCCI & Shri Jaydev Shah, President, SCA.
