Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin etched his name on record books when he dismissed Sri Lankan batter Charith Asalanka on Day 3 of the recently concluded first Test at PCA Stadium in Mohali.
The dismissal of Asalanka took Ashwin’s Test career wicket tally to 435, helping him surpass the legendary Kapil Dev’s haul of 434 wickets to become India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the longest format.
Ashwin is now only behind spin maestro Anil Kumble, who has taken 619 scalps in the red-ball format. When it comes to overall wicket-takers in Test cricket, Ashwin has now reached the ninth spot.
Most Test wickets for India:
- 619 – Anil Kumble
- 435 – Ravichandran Ashwin *
- 434 – Kapil Dev
- 417 – Harbhajan Singh
- 311 – Zaheer Khan/Ishant Sharma
Legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter to congratulate the Indian spinner on his incredible achievement. “Fantastic landmark, @ashwinravi99 To go past @therealkapildev paaji is an achievement in itself. The way you were going, it was only a matter of time. Wish you many more!” tweeted Tendulkar.
Fantastic landmark, @ashwinravi99!
To go past @therealkapildev paaji is an achievement in itself.
The way you were going, it was only a matter of time.
Wish you many more! 👍🏻#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/eK9SlIc16u
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) March 6, 2022
In the match, Ashwin picked up two wickets in the first innings while grabbed four scalps in the second essay as India defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs.
Batting first, India declared their first innings at 574/8 thanks to Ravindra Jadeja’s epic unbeaten 175 and Rishabh Pant’s 96. In reply, Sri Lanka got bundled out for 174 in their first innings and were asked to follow on. In the second innings, India packed tourists for 178 to win the match.
Ashwin also talked about the feat after the game. He took to his official Instagram and stated that he never thought he would become an off-spinner and manage to surpass Kapil.
“28 years ago, I was cheering the great @therealkapildev on to get his world record tally of wickets.I never had the slightest of ideas that I would become an off-spinner, play for my country and even manage to go past the great mans tally of wickets. I am delighted and very grateful to what this game has given me so far,” wrote Ashwin.
