India’s ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has added another feather to his cap and now, he is the quickest to pick up 300 wickets in Test cricket. He broke the record of the legendary Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee who had achieved the landmark in 56 Tests whereas Ashwin did it in his 54th game.
Going into the Test series against Sri Lanka, he had 292 wickets in the bag and needed 8 wickets to reach 300. But he remained wicketless in the first Test at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata as the conditions offered very little to the spinners.
In the 2nd Test in Nagpur, he bagged 4 wickets in each innings and added the record to his tally. Lahiru Gamage became his 300th victim courtesy a beautiful carom ball that squared him up and knocked over the bails, which also gave India the victory.
The 0ff-spinner has had a wonderful career so far. Especially in the past couple of years, he has been India’s premier wicket-taker in the longest format of the game. Due to his masterful bowling, Virat Kohli and his men were able to defeat South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia in the grand home season in the past few months.
The 31-year-old has played just 54 Tests so far and has a great chance of ending up as the highest wicket-taker for the country. He was elated with the achievement and hoped that he doubles up the wickets by the time he finishes.
“I really hope I can go on to double these 300 wickets. I’ve only played 50 Tests,” Ashwin said after India’s win. “It’s not easy bowling spin, it looks like you’re just ambling up. But there’s a lot (that goes) behind it.”
Bowlers fastest to 300 Test wickets
| Player | Country | Matches Taken |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 54 |
| Dennis Lillee | Australia | 56 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan | Sri Lanka | 58 |
| Richard Hadlee | New Zealand | 61 |
| Malcolm Marshall | West Indies | 61 |
| Dale Steyn | South Africa | 61 |
| Shane Warne | Australia | 63 |
| Allan Donald | South Africa | 63 |
| Glenn Mcgrath | Australia | 64 |
-Stats as of November 27, 2017
