There are some milestones in a player’s life which is bound to be achieved at a historic occasion. The stage was all set for Indian veteran cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin to achieve something which no Indian player has achieved in lesser time than him.
The Narendra Modi cricket stadium, the venue for the pink bowl test between India and England witnessed this historic achievement.
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Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest Indian bowler to pick up 400 Test wickets. The Chennai born off-spinner reached this historic landmark in his 77th Test. He fell short of Muttiah Muralitharan’s record by just 5 test matches.
While Muralitharan took 72 test matches to reach this milestone, Ashwin took just 5 more tests to reach this feat. Other Indian bowlers to pick more than 400 test wickets taker are Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417).
He came to limelight when he was picked in the yellow jersey for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2009. Ashwin did his Test debut against West Indies in 2011. He has made immense name for himself, more so in T20 cricket where his accuracy and tight line and length has made him a dependable bowler. He has managed to fill in the boots of the veteran Harbhajan Singh and has become India’s premier bowler in the Indian subcontinent.
Ashwin also was the top Test wicket-taker in three successive years–2015 (62), 2016 (72) and 2017 (56). But, from 2017, it seemed as if suddenly the team management started ignoring him. After the 2017 Champions Trophy, he was left out in the ODI team and was considered mostly only for domestic test matches at Indian soil.
Ashwin took his time, and he focused on rebuilding his game. He was often criticized for relying more on variations than stock balls. His carom bowl skills has been highly appreciated by cricket pundits.
It’s not that Ashwin has been only successful as a bowler. His batting skills and his knocks at crucial stages of the game has also earned him a good reputation as a batsman who can come lower down the order and play some quality innings. His 4 test centuries also speak the same.
Ashwin has always been a player who has kept himself low profile. He has kept his lifestyle very simple and not like modern players who do a lot of banter and talking while on and off the field.
He has always been a good player who can bat at crucial time. It seems the team management has not been able to provide better support for him because he has been in and out of the team.
We wish that Ashwin carries his great performance for years to come and he achieves many more such milestones.