India’s ace spinner and arguably the best in the world, Ravichandran Ashwin took his 23rd five-wicket haul in Test cricket, in the first innings of the ongoing fourth Test between India and England at the Wankhede stadium.
Ravichandran Ashwin has played 43* Test matches so far and he is already third in the list of ‘most numbers of five-wicket hauls by an Indian bowler in Test cricket’. Only Harbhajan Singh (25*) and Anil Kumble (35) are ahead of him in the list. But, if you compare the number of matches played between these three, there is a big difference. Anil Kumble retired from Test cricket with 132 Tests and Harbhajan Singh has played 103 Test matches for India so far.
Here’s the list:
| No. | Name | Matches | Five-wicket hauls |
| 1. | Anil Kumble | 132 | 35 |
| 2, | Harbhajan Singh | 103* | 25* |
| 3. | R Ashwin | 43* | 23* |
| 4. | Kapil Dev | 131 | 23 |
| 5. | BS Chandrashekhar | 58 | 16 |
In the last 2 years or so, Ravichandran Ashwin has been India’s most important member in Test cricket, specially in spin-friendly conditions. In the ongoing series between India and England, Ashwin is the leading wicket taker and he has been a mystery that English batsmen haven’t been able to solve more often than not.
Ravichandran Ashwin first came to limelight for his performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Playing for Chennai Super Kings, Ashwin impressed one and all with his skills and since then he has been a part of India’s playing XI in all three formats of the game. Initially, Ashwin had to sit on the bench as Harbhajan Singh was India’s first-choice spinner, but through consistent performance, Ashwin pushed the selectors for a spot and now he is India’s first-choice spinner in all three formats of the game.
https://twitter.com/HashTagCricket/status/807145715591852032
