Statsman: Ashwin second-fastest to 450 Test wickets

R. Ashwin went past 450 Test wickets during the first Test between India and Australia at Nagpur. He is the second-quickest, behind Muttiah Muralitharan, to the landmark.

R. Ashwin (left) took 89 Tests to get to 450 Test wickets. | Photo Credit: K. R. DEEPAK

Ashwin in elite list

9The number of bowlers who have the distinction of claiming 450 or more wickets in Test cricket history. In the Nagpur Test against Australia, R. Ashwin became the latest entrant to this list which now includes four pacers (Courtney Walsh, Glenn McGrath, James Anderson and Stuart Broad) and five spinners (Shane Warne, M. Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Nathan Lyon and R. Ashwin). By achieving this landmark in his 89th Test, Ashwin is now the second quickest among these Test bowlers with 450+ wickets. Also, his bowling strike-rate of 52.35 is the best among spinners and overall, the second best after Glenn McGrath.

Quickest to reach 450 wickets (in fewest Tests)		Best bowling strike-rates while achieving 450 Test wickets
Test#	Bowler	For	Achieved on		S/R	Bowler	For	Achieved on
80	M. Muralitharan	SL	7 May 2003		52.19	Glenn McGrath	Aus	29 Oct 2004
89	R. Ashwin	Ind	9 Feb 2023		52.35	R. Ashwin	Ind	9 Feb 2023
93	Anil Kumble	Ind	12 Mar 2005		56.70	James Anderson	Eng	30 May 2016
100	Glenn McGrath	Aus	29 Oct 2004		57.36	Courtney Walsh	WI	15 Jun 2000
101	Shane Warne	Aus	18 Mar 2002		58.15	Stuart Broad	Eng	3 Aug 2019

Notes:

** At 36y-145d, R. Ashwin is the second oldest among these nine bowlers after Courtney Walsh (37y-229d).

** Only two other bowlers in this list have a better bowling average than R. Ashwin (24.23) — Glenn McGrath (21.73) and M. Muralitharan (23.56).

3 The number of players to do the all-rounder’s double of 3000+ runs and 450+ wickets in Test cricket. By claiming his 450th Test wicket in Nagpur, R. Ashwin became the quickest to do this double (3000 runs + 450 wickets) in just 89 Tests. He, incidentally, went past the 3000-run mark in his previous Test match in Mirpur.

Quickest to do the double of 3000 runs and 450 wickets in Test cricket

Test#	Player	For	Achieved on	Against	Venue	Runs	Wkts
89	R. Ashwin	Ind	9 Feb 2023	Aus	Nagpur	3043	452
128	Stuart Broad	Eng	4 Aug 2019	Aus	Birmingham	3117	450
142	Shane Warne	Aus	4 Dec 2006	Eng	Adelaide	3018	690

6 The number of occasions Ravindra Jadeja has achieved the double of a fifty-plus score and a five-wicket haul in an innings in the same Test. In the Nagpur Test, Jadeja became only the fifth all-rounder in Test cricket history to do so on six or more occasions during a career. England’s Ian Botham has done this on most occasions — in 11 Test matches.

An individual fifty-plus score and a five-wicket haul in the same Test match on most occasions

Tests	Player	For	From	To	Total Tests
11	Ian Botham	Eng	Feb 1978	June 1985	102
10	Shakib Al Hasan	Ban	Oct 2008	May 2022	65*
6	Richard Hadlee	NZ	Feb 1979	Aug 1986	86
6	R. Ashwin	Ind	Nov 2011	Feb 2021	90*
6	Ravindra Jadeja	Ind	Sep 2016	Feb 2023	62*
5	Malcolm Marshall	WI	Dec 1983	June 1988	81

Notes:
** Botham’s 11 occasions, includes

— a century and two five-wkt hauls in the same Test (vs Ind in MumbaiWS in Feb 1980)

— a fifty and a century and a five-wkt haul in the same Test (vs Aus in Leeds in July 1981).

** Shakib’s 10 occasions, includes

— two fifties and one five-wkt haul in the same Test (vs WI in Mirpur in Oct 2011)

— one century and two five-wkt hauls in the same Test (vs Zim in Khulna in Nov 2014)

— one fifty and two five-wkt hauls in the same Test (vs Aus in Mirpur in Aug 2017).

** Hadlee’s 6 occasions, includes

— a fifty and two five-wkt hauls in the same Test (vs WI in Dunedin in Feb 1980)

— a fifty and two five-wkt hauls in the same Test (vs Aus in Brisbane in Nov 1985)

6 The number of occasions Ravindra Jadeja has achieved the double of a fifty-plus score and a five-wicket haul in an innings in the same Test match during his career. His teammate R. Ashwin has also done this on six occasions, the most by any player for India.

A fifty-plus score and a five-wicket haul in the same Test match for Ravindra Jadeja

Runs	Bowl	Against	Venue	Month, Year	Result
50*	5/73	New Zealand	Kanpur	Sep 2016	Won
51	7/48	England	Chennai	Dec 2016	Won
54*	5/124	Australia	Ranchi	Mar 2017	Drawn
70*	5/152	Sri Lanka	Colombo SSC	Aug 2017	Won
175*	5/41	Sri Lanka	Mohali	Mar 2022	Won
70	5/47	Australia	Nagpur	Feb 2023	Won

5 The number of Indian players to do the double of scoring a fifty-plus score and also claim a five-wicket haul in the same Test match against Australia. Jadeja, in fact, became the first Indian player to do it twice against this opponent. Only five players in Test history have achieved the double of 50-plus and a five-wicket haul in the same Test match against Australia on two separate occasions (see list below in notes).

An individual fifty-plus and a five-wicket haul in the same Test match for India against Australia

Runs	Bowl	Player	Venue	Month, Year	Result
70 & 53	5/74	Rusi Surti	Adelaide	Dec 1967	Lost
56	5/130	Kapil Dev	Adelaide	Jan 1992	Lost
57*	5/91	Zaheer Khan	Bengaluru	Oct 2008	Drawn
54*	5/124	Ravindra Jadeja	Ranchi	Mar 2017	Drawn
70	5/47	Ravindra Jadeja	Nagpur	Feb 2023	Won

Notes: Only five players have achieved the double of 50-plus and a five-wicket haul in the same Test match against Australia on two occasions:

— Billy Barnes (England, 1885 to 1888)

— Frank Foster (England, 1911 to1912)

— Malcolm Marshall (West Indies in 1984)

— Ian Botham (England, 1981 to 1985)

— Ravindra Jadeja (India, 2017 to 2023)

5 The number of Indian players to do the all-rounder’s double of 5000 runs and 700 wickets in first-class cricket. R Ashwin, in the Delhi Test, claimed his 700th First-Class wicket on the first day when got the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne leg-before and then crossed the landmark of 5000 runs the next day during his knock of 37, when on 22. He thus emulated a small band of Indian all-rounders.

Indian players with 5000 or more runs and 700 or more wickets in their First-Class careers.

Runs	Wkts	Player	Mts	From	To
11593	782	Vinoo Mankad	233	1935/36	1963/64
6617	1390	S. Venkataraghavan	341	1963/64	1984/85
11353	835	Kapil Dev	275	1975/76	1993/94
5572	1136	Anil Kumble	244	1989/90	2008/09
5015	705	R. Ashwin	146	2006/07	2022/23+

+ career in progress

6 The number of batters to aggregate 25000 runs across all three international formats. Virat Kohli, in the second innings of the Delhi Test, became the latest to achieve this landmark in international cricket on 19 Feb 2023. Kohli now has 25012 runs. The five others ahead of him are Sachin Tendulkar (34357 runs), Kumar Sangakkara (28016), Ricky Ponting (27483), Mahela Jayawardene (25957) and Jacques Kallis (25534). However, Kohli is the quickest to reach this milestone — in fewest innings and matches.

Quickest to reach 25000 international career runs (in fewest innings)

Inns	Mts	Batter	For	Runs	Ave.	100	50	Opp	Achieved on	Format	Result
549	492	Virat Kohli	Ind	25012	53.55	74	129	Aus	19 Feb 2023	Test	Won
577	507	Sachin Tendulkar	Ind	25016	48.10	75	115	SA	3 Dec 2006	ODI	Lost
588	500	Ricky Ponting	Aus	25035	47.95	68	129	NZ	3 Mar 2010	ODI	Won
594	502	Jacques Kallis	SA	25001	50.30	61	145	Aus	13 Nov 2012	Test	Drawn
608	547	Kumar Sangakkara	SL	25033	45.93	53	138	Ind	6 Apr 2014	T20I	Won
701	625	Mahela Jayawardene	SL	25051	39.14	51	132	Pak	23 Aug 2014	ODI	Lost

All records are correct and updated until 25 February 2023