It was a day ruled by the Indian bowlers in Hyderabad against England on the opening day of the first Test on Thursday, January 25. England skipper Ben Stokes did control the damage for a bit with a counter-attacking knock of 70 runs but the trio of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel proved to be too good for the visitors' batting line-up. While Jasprit Bumrah ended the innings with Stokes' wicket, it was the duo of Jadeja and Ashwin that picked three wickets each and the latter scripted history on Thursday.
With three scalps, Ashwin became the first Indian bowler to take 150 wickets in World Test Championship (WTC) history and third overall. Nathan Lyon (171*) and Pat Cummins (169*) are the other two bowlers with 150-plus wickets in WTC history but Ashwin has become the fastest bowler to achieve the feat in just 58 innings.
Most wickets in WTC history
Nathan Lyon - 171 wickets in 73* innings
Pat Cummins - 169 wickets in 73* innings
R Ashwin - 151 wickets in 58* innings
Mitchell Starc - 141 wickets in 68* innings
Stuart Broad - 134 wickets in 63 innings
Fastest to 150 wickets in WTC history (innings)
58 - R Ashwin
62 - Nathan Lyon
67 - Pat Cummins
Ashwin with three scalps also took his wickets tally ahead to 493 and now is just seven away from the milestone of 500 wickets. Ashwin will become only the second Indian to get to the landmark after Anil Kumble.
India responded strongly with the bat as they overtook England's score on Day 2 with six wickets still in the kitty. KL Rahul with an unbeaten fifty is still on his merry way after a quickfire start provided by Yashasvi Jaiswal up at the top.
