Indian bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin may not be the best fielder chasing the ball on the ground, but he is certainly chasing many bowling greats and their records with the ball in hand.
In the second Test match against Sri Lanka in Nagpur which India won by an innings & 239 runs, Ashwin managed to add yet another feather to his cap of records.
What is this record?
The Nagpur Test is just the 54th Test match for Ashwin and he became the fastest bowler (in terms of matches played) to get to 300 wickets in Tests, bettering the record set by Australia’s Dennis Lillee in 1981. Ashwin reached to this milestone with the wicket of Lahiru Gamage in Sri Lanka’s 2nd innings.
Dennis Lillee had created this milestone when he picked up 9 wickets in a Test in November 1981 against Pakistan in Brisbane. This was his 56th match in the longer format of the game.
Fastest to 300 Test wickets:
- Ravichandran Ashwin (54 Test matches)
- Dennis Lillee (56)
- Muttiah Muralitharan (58)
Sir Richard Hadlee, Malcolm Marshall and Dale Steyn all reached this milestone in their respective 61st Test matches. Ashwin, in February 2017, also created the record of ‘Fastest to 250 Test wickets’ reaching the milestone in just 45 Test matches, bettering the record created by Sir Richard Hadlee (48 Test matches) in 1981.
What is the road ahead?
Ashwin has to pick up another 50 wickets in his next 11 Test matches to become the fastest bowler to pick up 350 wickets in Test cricket. This record is currently held by Sri Lanka’s Muralitharan (created in 2001) which he reached in just 66 Test matches.
PS. Murali took just 8 Test matches to get from 300 wickets to 350 wickets in Test cricket!
India have some interesting overseas tours coming up in the next year. Only time can tell whether Ashwin can break Murali’s record or not. We believe that he can!
