Legendary Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble has given Ravichandran Ashwin the target of 700 Test wickets after the off-spinner took his 500th Test scalp on Friday in Rajkot.
With the wicket of Zak Crawley in England’s first innings in Rajkot, R Ashwin became the 9th bowler in the history of Test cricket to take 500 Test wickets. Among Indians, only Anil Kumble with 619 wickets is ahead of Ashwin.
Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 500 Test wickets at an average of 23.94; only two of the 8 bowlers above him on the wickets list have a better average than him.
Fewest Tests to 500 Test wickets
87 M Muralitharan
98 R ASHWIN
105 A Kumble
108 S Warne
110 G McGrath#INDvENG #INDvsENG #Ashwin pic.twitter.com/VPFdqYEiy4— CR17 (@_CR0717) February 16, 2024
Soon after Ashwin’s feat, Anil Kumble appeared on the broadcast to interview the off-spinner and gave him the new target of 700 Test wickets.
“Ash! Congratulations. I am very proud of you and your achievement. Go for 620, 625, 700. That should be your target. Don’t stop before that. Don’t think anywhere below that mark,” Anil Kumble told Ravichandran Ashwin on Jio Cinema.
I would like to dedicate this to my father: Ravichandran Ashwin
The 37-year-old dedicated his achievement to his father.
“I would like to dedicate this to my father, he’s responsible for everything I’ve done in my life. He’s lived it through, had heart attacks every time I’ve played. I think his health has gone for a toss because he’s watched games of mine on TV and been a constant support for me,” Ashwin said. “I’m sure he will be very happy today.”
It was a bittersweet day for Ravichandran Ashwin. Even though he got to his much-awaited 500th Test wicket, he leaked 37 runs in 7 overs as Ben Duckett clobbered the Indian spinners en route to his 88-ball century.
Ashwin turned his attention toward the game and said, “But yeah, 500 wickets done and dusted now, and we’ve got a game hanging in the balance.”
Duckett’s blistering knock of 133* runs in 118 balls meant England wiped out 207 runs from the original deficit of 445 runs in only 35 overs. They have 8 wickets in hand and India will need their champion off-spinner to step up on Day 3.
Also Read: Watch: Rohit Sharma Gives A Smiling Reaction To Ben Duckett’s Switch-Hit Six Off Ravindra Jadeja
