Ashwin one wicket away from equalling Muralitharan's Test record

Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 349 wickets in 66 Test matches. Muttiah Muralitharan had also reached the 350-wicket milestone in his 66th Test match.

Ravichandran Ashwin made his Test debut in 2011 and has been an integral part of the Indian set-up since then, especially in red-ball cricket.

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is one wicket away from equalling Muttiah Muralitharan’s record in Test cricket.

The 33-year-old has so far picked 349 wickets, including 26 five-wicket hauls, in 66 Test matches. Muralitharan, who holds the record for being the leading wicket-taker in the longest format of the game with 800 scalps to his name, had also reached the 350-wicket milestone in his 66th Test match against Bangladesh in 2001.

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Ashwin, who picked up seven wickets in the first innings of the ongoing Test against South Africa at the ACA-VDCA Stadium, is just one wicket short of equaling the legendary Sri Lankan bowler's record.

Former Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble had taken 77 Tests to take 350 wickets.

Ashwin made his Test debut in 2011 and since then has been an integral part of the Indian set-up, especially in red-ball cricket. However, he was not included in the two-match series in the West Indies in which India made a clean sweep to register its first points in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship.