Ravichandran Ashwin Gets Ready For His 500th Wicket

Although off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has taken nine wickets in two of the ongoing Test series against England, it was not great going for the seasoned campaigner in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. The 37-year old has been taken apart by the sweep and reverse sweep shots employed by the England batters notably Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Joe Root. For the first time in the 36 Test series he has played over 12 years and three months, he has conceded in excess of four runs an over. His career average is under three runs an over. All said and done, Ashwin is on the lookout for his 500th wicket, a feat only the legendary leg spinner Anil Kumble (619 wickets) has achieved among Indians. He has 499 so far. He will be only the third finger spinner in the history of Test cricket to accomplish the unique record after Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets) and Australia’s Nathan Lyon (513). The Tamil Nadu bowler has turned out to be a match-winner in 56 Tests, with a majority of 42 at home and to a lesser number, 14 in overseas conditions. He has taken 25 wickets and more at five venues:  Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Nagpur. He has taken six wickets at Rajkot in a Test against the West Indies in October 2018. Ashwin will be keen to put this record behind so that he can focus to check the England batters who have been red hot with their flashing blades.