Ashwin Set to Become 2nd Fastest Bowler to Pick 400 Test Wickets

R Ashwin after India won the 2nd Test in Chennai against England. 

Image: BCCI

Ace Indian off-spinner R Ashwin has been going through a rich vein of form in recent months and is now on the verge of a personal milestone.

Ashwin is in line to become the second fastest bowler to 400 Test wickets and needs another 6 in the Motera Test against England starting on Wednesday.

If Ashwin manages to achieve the landmark, he will overtake the great Sir Richard Hadlee of New Zealand and Dale Steyn of South Africa, both of whom are tied at second position.

Steyn and Hadlee had taken 80 Tests to reach the mark. If Ashwin joins club 400 in the Day/Night Test in Motera, he would reach the mark in his 77th Test. Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan is at the top of the list as he had taken 72 Tests to claim 400 wickets.

Additionally, Ashwin will become the sixth spinner to take 400 wickets and will only be the third Indian spinner to get to the mark after Anil Kumble (619) and Harbhajan Singh (417).

In the course of his match-winning performance in the 2nd Test, Ashwin overtook Harbhajan to become the second most prolific spinner for India at home.

He now has 266 victims at home in the longest format of the game in just 45 Tests at an outstanding average of 22.64. Former India captain Anil Kumble leads the list with 350 wickets from 62 matches in India.

In both the Tests so far against England, Ashwin (29 five-wicket hauls) has taken a five-wicket haul and has only Anil Kumble (35 five-wicket hauls) to overtake on this front.