Ashwin fastest to 300 Test wickets

Ashwin is the fifth Indian cricketer after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434), Harbhajan Singh (417) and Zaheer Khan (311) to take 300 Test wickets.

Earlier this year, Ashwin also became the fastest to 250 wickets, breaking former Australia fast bowler Dennis Lille’s record during the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Hyderabad. 

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ticked off yet another milestone when he became the fastest to 300 Test wickets during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. The off-spinner reached the feat in his 54th Test, breaking former Australia fast bowler Dennis Lille’s record of 56 matches.

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Finger Spinners who have taken 300 plus wickets M. Muralitharan (Sri Lanka, 800, 133 Tests) Harbhajan Singh (India, 417, 103 Tests) Rangana Herath  (Sri Lanka, 406, 87 Tests) Daniel Vettori (New Zealand, 362, 113 Tests) Lance Gibbs (West Indies, 309, 79 Tests) R.Ashwin (India, 300, 54 Tests)

 

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Coincidentally, Lille achieved the landmark on this day in 1981 against Pakistan in Brisbane. The no. 4 ranked Test bowler achieved the feat during the second innings of the Test match, where he claimed the wicket of Lahiru Gamage. He also took four wickets in the first innings to help India bowl its opposition out for 205.

The Tamil Nadu all-rounder also became the fastest to 2000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests. Former New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee was the previous record holder having achieved this feat in his 61st Test.

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Ashwin is also the second fastest cricketer after former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne to achieve this feat in terms of time. While Warne required only six years and zero days since his debut to break the record, Ashwin needed 22 more days to get to the mark.

He is the fifth Indian cricketer after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434), Harbhajan Singh (417) and Zaheer Khan (311) to take 300 Test wickets.

Earlier this year, Ashwin also became the fastest to 250 wickets, again breaking Lille’s record during the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Hyderabad.