Star Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has made his mark in history on Monday (September 30) when he became the first bowler to take 50 wickets in every edition of the World Test Championship held so far. Considered to be the top-ranking spinner by the ICC today, the 38-year-old Tamilnadu-born spinner managed to achieve the milestone during the ongoing second Test match of the series against Bangladesh at Green Park, Kanpur while claiming his second scalp.
He dismissed Shakib Al Hasan for nine runs on the last ball of the 56th over to complete 50 wickets in the WTC 2023-25 cycle.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s record in WTC
MATCHES WICKETS BEST FIGURES (Innings)
2019-21 14 71 7/145
2021-23 13 61 6/91
2023-25 10* 50* 7/71
Total 37* 182* 7/71
Ashwin, who is the second-leading wicket-taker in WTC history, claimed the wickets of 71 batters in 14 matches of the 2019-21 WTC edition. In the 2021–23 edition, he crumbled 61 batters in 13 matches, and so far in this cycle, he has taken 50 wickets in 10 matches.
Apart from Ashwin, Australia’s Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins, and New Zealand’s Tim Southee, have managed to dismiss 50 or more batters in two out of three WTC editions played until now.
Ashwin, who has taken 182wickets in 37 WTC matches, needs six more wickets to surpass Lyon’s WTC haul of 187 wickets and become the highest wicket-taker in WTC competition.
Most wickets in WTC
Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 187
Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 182*
Pat Cummins (Australia) – 175
Mitchell Starc (Australia) – 147
Stuart Broad (England) – 134
If in the ongoing match, Ashwin is able to take two more scalps then, he will surpass Jason Holder’s record to become the highest wicket-taker in the WTC 2023-25 season. Holder has taken 51 wickets in 11 matches in the current WTC season.
The second wicket in Bangladesh’s first innings also helped Ashwin equal the previous record of Indian pace bowler Zaheer Khan in the India-Bangladesh Tests played so far. Zaheer Khan in seven Test matches played against Bangladesh had 31 scalps while Ashwin who is playing his eighth Test series against Bangladesh currently has also accumulated 31 wickets.
Most wickets in WTC 2023-25
Josh Hazlewood (Australia) – 51
Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 50*
Pat Cummins (Australia) – 48
Mitchell Starc (Australia) – 48
Chris Woakes (England) – 43
Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 43
Ashwin, who took six wickets and conceded 88 runs in the first match of the series held in Chennai from September 19 to 22, is just three wickets away from claiming his 38th five-wicket haul in Test cricket during the first innings. In such a case, he will achieve this feat which will bring an end to the record of 37 fivers in the longest format of the game held by Shane Warne.
Most wickets in India-Bangladesh Tests:
Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 31*
Zaheer Khan (India) – 31
Ishant Sharma (India) – 25
Umesh Yadav (India) – 22
Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) – 21
