Statsman: Ashwin second quickest to reach 500 wickets in Test cricket

Aswin scales Mt. 500

9 The number of bowlers who now have the distinction of reaching 500 wickets during their Test career. India’s R. Ashwin became the latest to join this elite group on the second day of the Rajkot Test match on 16 March 2024. He thus became the second Indian after Anil Kumble (619) and the third off-spinner after Sri Lanka’s M. Muralitharan and Australian Nathan Lyon. Playing in the 98th Test match of his career, Ashwin became the second quickest to reach this landmark in Tests. Muralitharan achieved this feat, the fastest, in just 87 Tests on 16 March 2004. Ashwin, at 37 years and 152 days, is also the second oldest to do so after West Indian Courtney Walsh (38y-140d). Regarding strike rates among these bowlers while reaching their 500th Test wicket, Ashwin (51.49) is the second quickest after Australian Glenn McGrath (50.83).

Quickest to reach the 500th Test wicket (in fewest Tests) – the complete list

Tests	Bowler	For	Achieved on	Wkts	Ave.	S/R	Age
87	M. Muralitharan	SL	16 Mar 2004	500	22.78	59.04	31y-334d
98	R. Ashwin	Ind	16 Feb 2024	500	23.95	51.49	37y-152d
105	Anil Kumble	Ind	11 Mar 2006	501	28.88	65.79	35y-145d
108	Shane Warne	Aus	12 Mar 2004	501	25.51	60.32	34y-181d
110	Glenn McGrath	Aus	21 Jul 2005	504	21.12	50.83	35y-162d
123	Nathan Lyon	Aus	17 Dec 2023	501	30.86	63.10	36y-27d
129	Courtney Walsh	WI	19 Mar 2001	504	24.56	57.56	38y-140d
129	James Anderson	Eng	8 Sep 2017	506	27.39	55.85	35y-40d
140	Stuart Broad	Eng	28 Jul 2020	501	27.95	56.77	34y-34d

Note: The above career figures are updated at the end of the innings in the match where milestone was achieved.

51.46 R. Ashwin’s career bowling strike-rate at the end of the Rajkot Test match is now the best by any bowler with 500 or more wickets in a Test career. Behind him is Australian Glenn McGrath, whose bowling strike-rate is the closest to Ashwin.

Best career bowling career strike rates among the nine bowlers with 500-plus Test wickets

S/R	Bowler	For	Tests	Wkts	Ave/	R/O
51.46	R. Ashwin	Ind	98	501	23.94	2.79
51.95	Glenn McGrath	Aus	124	563	21.64	2.50
55.05	M. Muralitharan	SL	133	800	22.73	2.48
55.79	Stuart Broad	Eng	167	604	27.68	2.98
56.98	James Anderson	Eng	185	696	26.51	2.79

3 The number of players who have the distinction of doing the double of 3000 runs and 500 wickets during their Test career. By claiming his 500th Test wicket in Rajkot, R. Ashwin became the latest to achieve this double, having already aggregated 3000-plus career runs in Tests. Incidentally, Ashwin is now the quickest to do this in the fewest Test matches (98). England’s Stuart Broad (140 games) and Shane Warne (142) took much longer than Ashwin.

Players with 3000-plus runs and 500-plus wickets in Test cricket history

Player	For	Tests	Runs	Ave.	Wkts	Ave.	Achieved in
							Test#	Date
Shane Warne	Aus	145	3154	17.33	708	25.42	142	4 Dec 2006
Stuart Broad	Eng	167	3662	18.04	604	27.68	140	28 Jul 2020
R. Ashwin	Ind	98	3308	26.68	501	23.94	98	16 Mar 2024

7 The number of Indian players who have the distinction of doing the double of 7000 runs and 500 wickets in first-class cricket. Ravindra Jadeja became the latest to join this elite club of players when he claimed his 500th wicket in Rajkot in the second innings on the fourth day on 18 February 2024. In the same Rajkot match, he had completed 7000 career runs during his knock of 112 on the opening day on 15 February.

7000-plus runs and 500-plus wickets

Batter	Mts	Runs	Ave.	Wkts	Ave.	From	To
Vijay Hazare	238	18740	58.38	595	24.61	1934/35	1966/67
Vinoo Mankad	233	11593	34.60	782	24.53	1935/36	1963/64
Bapu Nadkarni	191	8880	40.36	500	21.37	1951/52	1971/72
Madan Lal	232	10204	42.87	625	25.50	1968/69	1991
Kapil Dev	275	11353	33.00	835	27.09	1975/76	1993/94
Ravi Shastri	245	13202	44.00	509	32.89	1979/80	1993/94
Ravindra Jadeja	125	7101	45.81	506	23.86	2006/07	2023/24

10 The number of players who have made over 1000 runs and claimed over 50 wickets against England during their Test career. On the opening day in Rajkot, Jadeja became the latest to achieve this all-round feat and the third Indian player after Kapil Dev and R. Ashwin. However, Jadeja is the quickest to do this double, in just 18 Tests. Previously, Australian Keith Miller and South African Trevor Goddard did it in 19 games.

Quickest to reach 1000 runs and 50 wickets in Tests against England

					Test career against England
Tests	Player	For	Achieved on	Venue	Runs	Ave.	Wkts	Ave.
18	Ravindra Jadeja	Ind	15 Feb 2024	Rajkot	1000	35.71	63	33.57
19	Keith Miller	Aus	23 Jul 1953	Leeds	1140	42.22	54	21.30
19	Trevor Goddard	SA	22 Jan 1965	Jo’burg	1119	30.24	54	25.98
20	Gary Sobers	WI	5 Aug 1966	Leeds	2032	65.55	55	32.78
20	Kapil Dev	Ind	21 Jun 1986	Leeds	1008	38.77	69	35.78

36 The age of Rohit Sharma when he registered the 11th century of his Test career on the opening day of the Rajkot Test match on 15 February 2024. The century was his third as India’s captain in Test matches. He thus became the oldest Indian captain to register a Test century. The previous oldest was Vijay Hazare, who was 36 years and 279 days, while Rohit was 12 days older.

Oldest Indian captain to register a Test century

Age	Batter	Runs	Against	Venue	Date	Result
36y-291d	Rohit Sharma	131	England	Rajkot	15 Feb 2024	W
36y-279d	Vijay Hazare	155	England	Mumbai BS	14 Dec 1951	D
35y-321d	M Azharuddin	103*	New Zealand	Wellington	26 Dec 1998	L
34y-135d	Rahul Dravid	129	Bangladesh	Mirpur	25 May 2007	W
33y-182d	Sunil Gavaskar	127*	Pakistan	Faisalabad	3 Jan 1983	L

Note: Only the batter’s final century has been listed above

7 The number of batters who have converted their first three centuries to a 150-plus score. Yashasvi Jaiswal achieved this rare feat during his unbeaten 214 in Rajkot against England, thus making him the first Indian to do so.

Batters converting their first three Test centuries to a 150+ score

Batter	For	1st Test century	2nd Test century	3rd Test century
Javed Miandad	Pak	163 v NZ (Lahore) 1976	206 v NZ (Karachi) 1976	154* v Ind (Faisalabad) 1978
Andrew Jones	NZ	150 v Aus (Adelaide) 1987	170* v Ind (Auckland) 1990	186 v SL (Wellington) 1991
Brian Lara	WI	277 v Aus (Sydney) 1993	167 v Eng (Georgetown) 1994	375 v Eng (St John’s) 1994
Mahela Jayawardene	SL	167 v NZ (Galle) 1998	242 v Ind (ColomboSSC) 1999	167 v SA (Galle) 2000
Matthew Sinclair	NZ	214 v WI (Wellington) 1999	150 v SAf (Pt Elizabeth) 2000	204* v Pak (Christchurch) 2001
Graeme Smith	SA	200 v Ban (E London) 2002	151 v Pak (Cape Town) 2003	277 v Eng (Birmingham) 2003
Yashasvi Jaiswal	Ind	171 v WI (Roseau) 2023	209 v Eng (Vizag) 2024	214* v Eng (Rajkot) 2024

Notes:

* Sinclair’s only three 100+ scores of his Test career

* Smith’s fourth 100+ score was 259 v Eng at Lord’s 2003. He is the only one in the above list with a 150+ score in his first four centuries.

250 The number of left-handed victims claimed by R. Ashwin in Test cricket. He becomes the first bowler in Test cricket history to achieve this milestone. Way behind him is England’s Jimmy Anderson, who has 216 left-handed victims.

Bowlers claiming wickets of left-handed batters on most occasions during their Test career

Bowler	For	LHB	RHB	Total wickets	%LHB	Matches

R. Ashwin	Ind	250	251	501	49.90	98
James Anderson	Eng	217	479	696	31.18	185
Stuart Broad	Eng	193	411	604	31.95	167
M. Muralitharan	SL	191	609	800	23.88	133
Nathan Lyon	Aus	184	333	517	35.59	127