Ashwin checks another milestone

When R Ashwin dismissed Ross Taylor in the 45^th over at Holkar, he crossed Ishant Sharma in the tally of test match wickets. In the process, Ashwin became the 8^th highest all time test match wicket taker for India.

Earlier, in the series, Ashwin had become the second fastest man to 200 test match wockets, after Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett. Grimmett, incidentally, played in the 1920s and 30s and was a contemporary of Sir Donald Bradman.

Ashwin’s bowling average and strike rate, is by and far the best among all Indian cricketers who have captured a significant number of wickets.  At the time of writing Ashwin has captured 4 wickets in the New Zealand 1^st innings.

Before this match Ashwin had 207 wickets in 38 matches. His average and strike rate stood at 25.14 and 51.4 respectively. At the same time, it is true that Ashwin has bagged the majority of his wickets in the subcontinent.

Although it is unfair to compare, Ishant Sharma has 209 wickets in 72 matches at 36.71. With his third wicket, Ashwin moved to 210 wickets, thus crossing Ishant.

Currently, Bishen Bedi is 5^th on the list of highest wicket takers. The maverick left arm spinner had 266 wickets in 67 matches at 28.71. At the start of this match, Ashwin was 60 wickets behind.

With a long home season ahead, including 10 test matches after this, it is possible that Ashwin could cross Bedi by that time.

	Matches	Wickets	Average
Anil Kumble	132	619	29.65
Kapil Dev	131	434	29.64
Harbhajan Singh	103	417	32.46
Zaheer Khan	92	311	32.94
Bishen Singh Bedi	67	266	28.71
BS Chandrasekhar	58	242	29.74
Javagal Srinath	67	236	30.49
R Ashwin	39*	211	24.90
Ishant Sharma	72	207	36.71
EAS Prasanna	49	189	30.38

Table: List of highest test match wicket takers for India

*The current match, Ashwin’s 39^th, is still in progress.