India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has once grabbed the headlines for his record-breaking feat. During the opening day of the second Test against the West Indies on Friday (October 12), Ashwin became the fourth fastest to claim 500 first-class wickets among the Indian bowlers.
Ashwin drew the first blood for India by dismissing Kieron Powell for 22 and thus completed his 500 wickets in 107 first-class matches. In terms of matches, Ashwin is only behind former greats Amar Singh, Padmakar Shivalkar and Vaman Kumar to achieve this significant milestone.
Quickest to reach 500 first-class wickets (in terms of matches):
Amar Singh – 90
Padmakar Shivalkar – 103
Vaman Kumar – 106
Ravichandran Ashwin – 107
Subhash Gupte/Bhagwat Chandrasekhar – 110
Erapalli Prasanna/Anil Kumble – 112
Indian bowlers fastest to 500 first-class wickets (fewest matches):
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) October 12, 2018
90 Amar Singh
103 Padmakar Shivalkar
106 Vaman Kumar
107 RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN
110 Subhash Gupte / Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
112 Erapalli Prasanna / Anil Kumble#INDvWI #WIvIND
Having made his Test debut in November 2011, Ashwin has established himself as India’s leading spinners. In 64 Tests, the tweaker has taken 334 wickets at an average of 25.33. While Ashwin has already picked up 26 five-wicket hauls, he has achieved 7 ten-wicket hauls to his name.