R Ashwin became the second-fastest to 500 wickets in the 3rd Test vs England. Ashwin also upstaged Anil Kumble to become the quickest Indian with 500 wickets.
When the heat was on, it was only fitting that Ravichandran Ashwin climbed Mount 500. As Ben Duckett’s England batsmen went on a rampage in their opening innings, Ashwin, true to form, lobbed one up from round-the-wicket to remove the other strong hitter, Zak Crawley. He beat him in the air sweeping, and Rajat Patidar finished the job.
After finishing with 619 wickets in the post-tea session on Friday, Ashwin became just the second Indian player to achieve the feat, having already finished his 500th Test victim. As head coach Rahul Dravid and the rest of the support staff applauded from the dressing room of Niranjan Shah stadium, his teammates flocked around him and shared bearhugs.
Ashwin hit the much-awaited milestone, but the celebrations were subdued; he looked more relieved than thrilled. With the series on the line and India up against a strong opponent, there was work to be done.
In the twelfth over, Rohit Sharma sent in Ashwin to join the assault. It took the cunning off-spinner just seven balls to claim the wicket that he would have anticipated taking earlier in the series.
With 98 matches, Ashwin became the second-fastest player to 500 wickets, trailing only Muttiah Muralitharan’s 87 matches. With 351 wickets at an average of 21.26, Ashwin is a formidable spinner at home. His 149 wickets have come at an average of 30.40 even away from home.
“We discuss Ashwin in India, but don’t forget that Ashwin is excellent outside of India as well. “I have consistently maintained that Ashwin ought to have participated in more matches outside of India,” Kumble responded, offering commentary. “Considering how many wickets Ashwin and Jadeja have amassed in India, they ought to have been selected first among players outside of India.”
When Harbhajan Singh was India’s top off-spinner in the early years of his Test career, Ashwin had to wait his turn to be a regular member of the starting XI. That all changed, though, when Ashwin started honing his skill and dominating rival teams at home, just like Harbhajan did. In Test cricket, Ashwin has amassed 34 5-wicket hauls and 8 10-wicket hauls.