Ashwin in West Indies: 700 wickets & other records
With his five-wicket haul in the first innings of the first Test against the West Indies, Ravichandran Ashwin has become only the third Indian bowler to take 700 international wickets. He is now also the highest taker of five-wickets-in-an-innings among active players and the fifth overall and first India player to dismiss a father-and-son dup in Test cricket.
The stadium of Windsor Park in Roseau on the island of Dominica was witness to the making of history for Indian cricket yesterday as Ravichandran Ashwin became only the third from the country to take 700 international wickets (total of Tests, ODIs and T20Is), after Anil Kumble (956) and Harbhajan Singh (711).
Ashwin’s total haul of 702 after the end of West Indies’ first innings in the first Test took him up to 9th in the all-time Test list (479 wickets) and 16th in the all-time list of international wicket-takers.
West Indies’ Alzari Joseph became Ashwin’s landmark victim as he was caught by Jaydev Unadkut.
After Joseph, Ashwin scalped two more victims to complete a five-wicket haul—his 33rd, taking him up a place to sixth in the list of most five-wicket hauls in an innings in Test cricket, past England’s James Anderson.
Ravichandran Ashwin is now also the highest active five-wicket taker in a Test innings.
Another record was also set by Ashwin—the first Indian and the fifth cricketer overall to dismiss both father and son in Test cricket.
- Ian Botham (England): Lance and Chris Cairns (New Zealand)
- Wasim Akram (Pakistan): Lance and Chris Cairns (New Zealand)
- Mitchell Starc (Australia): Shivnarine and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)
- Simon Harmer (South Africa): Shivnarine and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)
- Ravichandran Ashwin (India): Shivnarine and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)
The other interesting fact about this above list is that there are just two father-son duos to have got out by the same bowler, one by two bowlers and the other by three bowlers.
