When Ravichandran Ashwin removed South African tailender Imran Tahir to grab his fifth wicket of the innings in the ongoing Mohali Test, he also reached the landmark of 150 Test wickets.
Ashwin is easily the fastest Indian to 150 Test wickets, getting there in just 29 Tests. Fellow spinners Anil Kumble and Erapalli Prasanna, who previously held the record, needed five more Tests than him.
In fact, only three bowlers from anywhere in the world have achieved the feat quicker than Ashwin: England's Sydney Barnes (24 Tests), Pakistan's Waqar Younis (27 Tests) and Australia's Clarrie Grimmett (28 Tests).
Four other bowlers have got to 150 wickets in 29 Tests, like Ashwin. That includes South African speedster Dale Steyn, who is also playing this Test but has gone wicketless so far.
Incidentally, Ashwin was also the fastest Indian to 50 and 100 Test wickets. He reached 50 wickets in just 9 Tests (ahead of Kumble who got there in 10) and 100 wickets in 18 Tests (ahead of Prasanna who took 20).
The wicket of Tahir was also Ashwin's 100th Test wicket on Indian soil. Ashwin broke another record in the process, surpassing Harbhajan Singh to become the fastest to 100 Test wickets in India. He accomplished the feat in 16 Tests compared to Harbhajan's 19.
At the end of the South African first innings, Ashwin had a bowling average of 27.84, which is the best for any Indian bowler in history for a minimum of 2000 balls bowled.
