Indian spin maestro Ravichandran Ashwin has shattered Anil Kumble's all-time record during the second innings of the India vs England 4th Test. Ashwin, who picked his 500th Test wicket in the 3rd Test in Rajkot, has now entered his name into another history book.
The spin stalwart jolted England early in the second innings after India were bowled out for 307. He removed left-handed opener Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope on consecutive deliveries to break Kumble's 16-year-old feat.
Ashwin now has the most number of Test wickets in India as the Pope scalp was his 351st wicket at home. He has jumped ahead of Kumble in this tally who had 350 Test wickets in India. No other Indian has even 300 Test wickets at home with Harbhajan Singh being the next best with 265 scalps to his name.
Most Test wickets in India:
Ravichandran Ashwin: 351 wickets* (Till his 2nd wicket)
Anil Kumble: 350 wickets
Harbhajan Singh: 265 wickets
Kapil Dev: 219 wickets
Ravindra Jadeja: 210 wickets* (Till 1st innings in 4th Test)
Notably, there are only a handful of other bowlers who have picked more than 350 Test wickets at home. Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralidaran, who has 800 Test wickets, has picked 493 of those in Sri Lanka. England icon James Anderson, who is inches away from his 700th Test wicket (till the first innings), has picked 434 wickets in England, while his former partner in crime Stuart Broad, who ended his illustrious career with a total of 604 wickets, has picked 398 wickets in England.
Ashwin recently achieved the milestone of 500 Test wickets in the Rajkot Test, in which he missed out on a day of action due to a family emergency but travelled back to rejoin the Indian team. The 37-year-old had become the only second Indian and ninth overall to pick more than 500 wickets in the longest format of the game.
