Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continued his spectacular bowling in the ongoing second Test and thrashed the England batting unit at MA Chidambaram Stadium by taking five-wicket haul on Sunday. In reply to India’s 329, England was bundled out for 134 in their first innings.
Ashwin becomes almost unplayable even if he gets the slightest of assistance from the pitch and the same is happening in Chennai. He has dismissed Dom Sibley, Dan Lawrence, Olly Stone, S Broad and Ben Stokes. Ben Stokes tried to counter-attack in the 2nd session but the left-hander met his end when Ashwin cleaned him up with absolute beauty, Ravi Ashwin also went past Harbhajan Singh in terms of most wickets at home in Tests.
Ashwin now has 269 wickets at home in the longest format of the game in just 45 Tests at a brilliant average of 22.64.
Anil Kumble, the legendary leg-spinner, is leading the list having 350 wickets in 63 Tests at home at an average of 24.90. Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, and Zaheer Khan are the only three pacers in the top 10 most wicket-takers at home for India in Tests.
As far as Ravi Ashwin is concerned, he is close to reaching 400 wickets in Test cricket and many are expecting him to reach the milestone in the series against England itself.
Most Test Wickets in Home Conditions
- 350 – Anil Kumble
- 269 – Ravichandran Ashwin
- 265 – Harbhajan Singh
- 219 – Kapil Dev
- 157 – Ravindra Jadeja
Overall, Ashwin has 391 wickets in the longest format, and he is just 9 scalps away to become only the fourth Indian bowler to enter the 400-wicket club. Among Indian bowlers, Kumble is the leading wicket-taker with 619 scalps to his credit.
Most Test wickets for India
- 619 – Anil Kumble
- 434 – Kapil Dev
- 417 – Harbhajan Singh
- 391 – Ravichandran Ashwin
- 311 – Zaheer Khan
- 301 – Ishant Sharma
Ashwin’s brilliant show received praise from fans and here is how they reacted:
