Star Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who sits at No. 1 position in the ICC Test bowler’s ranking, broke former West Indies pacer Courtney Walsh’s record of 519 wickets on Sunday (September 22) to become the eighth leading wicket-taker in Test cricket’s history. The 38-year-old spinner achieved the milestone by taking Shakib Al Hasan’s wicket during the first session of the fourth day’s play of the ongoing first Test of the two-match series between India and Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
By taking his fourth wicket of the second innings, Ashwin has extended his tally of wickets to 520 in 101 Tests for India.
The record of taking most wickets in Test cricket is in the name of Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan. The legendary spinner finished his Test career with 800 wickets in 133 matches. Shane Warne of Australia is second on the list with 708 wickets in 145 Tests, and they are followed by England’s James Anderson (704), India’s Anil Kumble (619), England’s Stuart Broad (604), Australia’s Glenn McGrath (563), and Nathan Lyon (530).
Most wickets in Tests
- Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) – 800
- Shane Warne (Australia) – 708
- James Anderson (England) – 704
- Anil Kumble (India) – 619
- Stuart Broad (England) – 604
- Glenn McGrath (Australia) – 563
- Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 530
- Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 520*
- Courtney Walsh (West Indies) – 519
Ashwin, who remained wicketless in the first inning, picked up his first wicket of the ongoing Test on Saturday by getting rid of Shadman Islam. The Bangladeshi opener was caught by Shubman Gill on the third ball of the 22nd over. After Islam, Ashwin accounted for the dismissals of Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim as well during the third session of the third day’s play.
While Mominul was clean bowled by the legendary spinner, KL Rahul completed a brilliant catch of Rahim to bring an end to his 13-run knock.
If in the ongoing match Ashwin manages to take one more wicket, then he will complete his 11th five-wicket haul in the World Test Championship and 37th in Test cricket.
The 11th five-wicket haul will help him break Lyon’s record of most fifers in WTC, and the 37th five-wicket haul in Tests will help him equal Warne’s record. The overall record of taking most five-wicket hauls in the five-day format of the game is in the name of Muralithran, who during his playing days dismissed five or more batters in an innings on 67 occasions.
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