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It was fitting that Ravichandran Ashwin climbed Mount 500 when it was hot. When the true-to-character English batsmen led by Ben Duckett were wreaking havoc in their first innings, Ashwin bowled one from around the wicket to see the end of the other powerful batsman, Zak Crawley, and beat him in the air. sweeping, while Rajat Patidar did the rest.
As soon as Ashwin completed his 500th Test victim in the post-tea session on Friday, he was only the second Indian to do so after Anil Kumble, who finished with 619 wickets. His teammates gathered around him, hugging each other as head coach Rahul Dravid and the rest of the support staff applauded from the Niranjan Shah Stadium dressing room.
Ashwin seemed more relieved than elated when he reached the cherished milestone, but the celebrations were muted. There was a lot of work to be done with the series on the line and India facing a formidable opponent.
Rohit Sharma brought Ashwin into the attack in the 12th over and it took the wily spinner just 7 balls to get the wicket he would have thought he would get at the start of the series.
Ashwin became the second fastest man (98 matches) to 500 wickets, second only to Muttiah Muralitharan (87 matches). Ashwin is the giant of spinners at home, as evidenced by his 351 wickets at an average of 21.26. Even away from home, his 149 wickets have had an average of 30.40.
“We talk about Ashwin in India, but let’s not forget that Ashwin outside India is quality. I have always said that Ashwin should have played more outside of India,” Kumble reacted, as he spoke on commentary. “For the number of wickets Ashwin and Jadeja have produced in India, they should have been the first choice outside India.”
In the early years of his Test career, Ashwin had to bide his time to be a regular XI player, while Harbhajan Singh was India’s main off-spinner. But all that changed, when Ashwin started getting better at his craft and started defeating opposing teams at home like Harbhajan did. Ashwin has 34 5-wicket hauls and 8 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket.
Also read: India vs England Live Score 2nd Test Day 4, IND vs ENG: R Ashwin returns Joe Root, Ollie Pope amid ENG aggression
Ashwin got past Chandrasekhar
With the breakthrough so important, Ashwin also overtook BS Chandrasekhar to become India’s leading wicket-taker against England in Test cricket. Fresh off his 96th wicket to eclipse Chandrasekhar in the elite list, Ashwin dismissed Joe Root in the previous Test in Visakhapatnam to remain on the verge of entering the 500-wicket club in the longest format. Rewarded for his spin bowling masterclass, Ashwin wrote a script for the ages by topping England’s opener to seal his 500th scalp in red-ball cricket.
Did you know?
The 37-year-old is also the second fastest to take 500 wickets in the history of Test cricket. Ashwin, playing his 98th Test match for Team India, is the ninth player to achieve 500 dismissals. He was seven Tests quicker than Kumble.
With 800 wickets in 133 games, Sri Lanka’s Muralitharan is the all-time highest wicket-taker in Tests.