India's Ravichandran Ashwin went past Zaheer Khan's tally of 597 international wickets as the veteran off-spinner plucked three wickets against England in the third Test at the newly renamed Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday. He also clinched the fourth spot in the list of Indian bowlers with most international wickets.
Ex-India skipper Anil Kumble is sitting first in the list with 953 international wickets, followed by Harbhajan Singh on 707 and Kapil Dev on 687.
Ashwin dismissed England's Ollie Pope in the first innings to surpass Zaheer. Pope was bowled by Ashwin in the very first over the session after tea, as he was deceived by a straight delivery that followed three consecutive balls that turned.
Ashwin, currently on 599 scalps, is just one wicket away from 600 Test wickets. He's also three short of 400 Test wickets.
List of Indian bowlers with most international wickets:
- Anil Kumble (953)
- Harbhajan Singh (707)
- Kapil Dev (687)
- R Ashwin (599)
- Zaheer Khan (597)
In the Day-Night Test against England, Ashwin teamed up with Axar Patel as the duo bundled out the tourists for just 112 runs. Ashwin captured 3/26 while Axar ended the innings with 6/38 in Ahmedabad.
Wickets kept falling at regular intervals as England's tail comprising Jack Leach (3), Stuart Broad (3) and Jofra Archer (11) perished cheaply. Zak Crawley (53) was the top scorer for the visitors.
In reply, India lost their first wicket in the form of Shubman Gill, who walked back on 11, falling prey to Jofra Archer's short delivery. Cheteshwar Pujara was also dismissed on a duck, leaving India in trouble on 34/2 with skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the middle.
