India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin added yet another prized feather to his illustrious cap when he bagged the crucial wicket of England's Jonny Bairstow in the first session of play on day 1 of the ongoing fourth Test at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi.
Coming around the stumps, the veteran spinner trapped Bairstow leg-before-wicket (LBW) and became the first Indian to claim 100 Test wickets against the Three Lions. Ashwin's historic milestone saw him move way past Bhagwath Subramanya Chandrasekhar who previously held the record for bagging the most wickets for India against England in the red-ball format.
Indians with the most Test wickets against England:
| Bowler |
Matches |
Wickets |
| R Ashwin |
23 |
100 |
| B Chandrasekhar |
23 |
95 |
| Anil Kumble |
19 |
92 |
| Bishan Singh Bedi |
22 |
85 |
| Kapil Dev |
27 |
85 |
| Ishant Sharma |
23 |
67 |
| Ravindra Jadeja |
19 |
64 |
| Jasprit Bumrah |
13 |
58 |
| Vinoo Mankad |
11 |
54 |
Ashwin is the third-leading wicket-taker for the hosts in the ongoing Anthony de Mello Trophy with 12 wickets. The 37-year-old offie has not had the best of series as per his lofty standards but can make a strong comeback given the kind of pedigree he has.
He has endured turbulent times lately but looks poised to win the series for Team India. The Chennai-born had to leave the third Test at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot midway after his mother suffered a health scare but came back to join the team and bowled six overs in the second innings and bagged the wicket of Tom Hartley.
India's playing for the fourth Test in Ranchi:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
England's playing XI for the fourth Test in Ranchi:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir.
