Rajkot, Feb 16 (Agency) Ravichandran Ashwin became just the second Indian bowler and ninth overallto take 500 wickets in Test cricket. Ashwin achieved the milestone during the ongoing Test match in Rajkot against England. The off-spinner was on 499 scalps at the end of the second Test in Vizag and completed his 500th withthe wicket of Zak Crawley on Day 2 of the third Test.Ashwin is the ninth bowler in Test history to breach the 500-wicket barrier, and the only one fromIndia since Anil Kumble. Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble and Nathan Lyon are the only other spinnersahead of him in the list of highest wicket-takers in Test history. Ashwin, who made his Test debut in November 2011, has been India’s strike bowler in Tests, particularly at home, where 347 of his 500 wickets have come, an ICC report said.
He achieved the feat in 98 Test matches, making him the second-quickest in Test history to the milestone after Muttiah Muralitharan. Each of the other seven bowlers took more than 100 Test matches to get to the milestone. On the eve of the Test, teammate Ravindra Jadeja had cheekily commented that it was Ashwin’s “destiny” to complete the milestone at Jadeja’s home ground in Rajkot. “I am very happy for him, I have been playing with him for years,” Jadeja had said. “I thought he would get it in the first test match, but it’s okay, it is destiny that he will get it here in my hometown.” Ashwin has 34 five-wicket hauls and eight 10-wicket match hauls in his Test career. James Anderson, Lyon and Ashwin are the only active bowlers to have more than 400 wickets inTest cricket.