India’s star bowler Ravichandran Ashwin, the man who is no stranger to setting and breaking records in Test cricket, has added another feather to his cap. With his wicket of Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, Ashwin reached 250 wickets in his 45th Test — the fastest to get to that landmark.
The record was previously held by Australia’s all-time great Dennis Lillee, who had got there in 48 Tests back in 1981. Ashwin thus broke a record that has stood for 36 years. Among India bowlers, the fastest was Anil Kumble – 55 Tests.
He was made to wait unusually long for the last three wickets of his 250, with just one wicket in the Chennai Test against England in his 69 overs at his home ground. Even in the first innings in Hyderabad against Bangladesh, Ashwin’s wait continued till the final wicket of the innings fell.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s 250 wickets in Tests:
– Fastest in-terms of matches (45)- Second fastest in-terms of innings (83)#IndvBan— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) February 12, 2017
From our archive@ashwinravi99: King Kohli’s First General
Read: https://t.co/2LAHGTXjRe#INDvBAN #Ashwin250 pic.twitter.com/usnjbSju68— ScoopWhoop News (@scoopwhoopnews) February 12, 2017
Ashwin was also the second fastest to reach 200 wickets, ahead of Lillee and Younis.
He has won the most man-of-the-series awards by any Indian cricketer — seven compared to Tendulkar and Sehwag’s five. He has 24 five-wicket hauls, third on the list behind Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. He has seven ten-wicket match hauls, second only to Kumble’s eight.
Congratulations, Ashwin!