India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin added another feather to his illustrious cap of records, as the first Test against England was underway at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Ashwin became the first-ever Indian bowler to have crossed the 150-wicket mark in the history of the World Test Championship and is currently the third-highest wicket-taker in the WTC since its inception. The veteran spinner started the Test with 148 wickets in 30 Tests, only two shy of the record milestone. In the first session on Day 1, England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley started strongly, putting up a half-century stand for the first wicket. In need of an early breakthrough, captain Rohit Sharma turned to Ashwin bringing him on in the 10th over, who responded by removing both openers in a span of the 3 overs that followed. Crawley became Ashwin's 150th Test victim in the WTC. Ashwin later hit the final nail in the coffin, picking England's last wicket as they were dismissed for 246.
Together with Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin recorded another important milestone. The two became the most successful spin-bowling duo in Indian cricket, going past the long-standing record of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble, who shared 501 wickets between them. In 50 Test matches, the super-hit pair of Ashwin and Jadeja has scalped 506* wickets so far.
With three wickets in the first innings, Ashwin's tally of Test wickets now stands at 493, with the offie just 7 away from reaching the magic number of 500 Test wickets.
Image credit: BCCI
