New Delhi: India ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin scripted history by claiming a huge World Test Championship (WTC) record in the ongoing second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur on Monday.
He has become the first bowler in the world to dismiss at least 50 batters in all three editions of the WTC held so far. The 38-year-old from Tamil Nadu is currently the no. 1 Test bowler as per ICC rankings.
During the first innings, he dismissed Shakib Al Hasan for nine runs on the last ball of the 56th over to reach the 50-wicket mark in the WTC 2023-25 cycle and eventually the elite landmark. With two more scalps in the second innings that still progresses, he bagged another two to take his tally to 52.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s WTC record
Ashwin is currently the second-leading wicket taker in the history of WTC as he dismissed 71 batters in 14 games played in the 2019-21 WTC cycle. In the next WTC edition i.e. 2021-23, he removed 61 batters in 13 games, and in the ongoing cycle, has already picked 52 scalps out of 10 matches. The likes of Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, and Tim Southee were able to dismiss 50 or more batters in two out of three WTC editions played so far.
Ashwin, who has 184 wickets to his name in 37 WTC matches played so far, needs just four wickets more to break Lyon’s record of 187 wickets and become the leading wicket-taker in the history of WTC.
Most wickets in WTC
187 – Nathan Lyon (AUS)
184* – Ravichandran Ashwin (IND)
175 – Pat Cummins (AUS)
147 – Mitchell Starc (AUS)
134 – Stuart Broad (ENG)
After picking the wicket of Hasan Mahmud in the second innings, Ashwin surpassed Josh Hazlewood’s record and became the leading wicket-taker in the WTC 2023-25 cycle. While Hazlewood dismissed 51 batters in 11 games, Ashwin’s tally is currently at 52 in 10 matches.
Most wickets in WTC 2023-25
52* – Ravichandran Ashwin (IND)
51 – Josh Hazlewood (AUS)
48 – Pat Cummins (AUS)
48 – Mitchell Starc (AUS)
43 – Chris Woakes (ENG)
43 – Nathan Lyon (AUS)
With Shakib’s wicket, Ashwin had equalled former India pacer Zaheer Khan’s record of most wickets in IND vs BAN Tests and after taking two more wickets in the second innings, he has surpassed the former star pacer. Zaheer, who picked 31 wickets in seven Tests against Bangladesh, saw him getting overtaken by Ashwin taking his tally to 33 wickets in the eighth Test against Bangladesh that he is currently playing in.
Most wickets in IND-BAN Tests
33* – Ravichandran Ashwin (IND)
31 – Zaheer Khan (IND)
25 – Ishant Sharma (IND)
22 – Umesh Yadav (IND)
21 – Shakib Al Hasan (BAN)
Ashwin picked up six-fer for 88 runs in the series opener that was played in Chennai from September 19 to 22. Having picked two wickets in the first innings, he has got similar scalps at the end of Day 4 (BAN 2nd innings) of the second Bangladesh Test. He needs three more wickets in the second innings to complete his 38th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. If able to do so, he will surpass legendary Shane Warne’s record of 37 Test fifers.
