Ravichandran Ashwin has become India’s premier spinner over the past few years especially in the longest format and his exceptional record in this format is just a testimony to his skills and hard work.
Ashwin became the fastest to reach 250 wickets earlier in the year and despite not being at his menacing best against SRI Lanka at Galle, Ashwin has broken yet another record which was held previously by the Australian great fast bowler Dennis Lillee.
The offie bagged 5 wickets in the Galle Test to take his wickets tally to 279 which is the highest by any bowler after playing 50 Tests breaking Lillee’s record of 262. His next target will be breaking Lillee’s another record of being the fastest to 300 Test wickets. The fast bowler achieved the feat in 56 Tests and if the Sri Lankan pitches start assisting spinners then we might see Ashwin breaking the record in the next couple of matches. Incidentally, Ashwin was India’s highest wicket taker during India’s previous tour to Sri Lanka.
He didn’t claim any wicket in the 2nd innings until his 20th over but once he sent back Niroshan Dickwella, he added two more to his kitty in no time. He also bagged the prized scalp of Dimuth Karunaratne who fought hard for a brilliant 97 and finished with the wicket of Nuwan Pradeep. His figures in the 2nd innings read 3/65 which helped India finishing the game on the 4th day.
Just 6 years into his international career, Ashwin has achieved what many bowlers doesn’t achieve in their whole career but for Ashwin numbers hardly hold any significance. He tries keeping things simple and doesn’t run after wickets.
“For me, it’s always teaming first. Since my childhood days when I dreamt of playing for India, I had one goal and that is to take Indian cricket to greater heights,” Ashwin told reporters after India crushed Sri Lanka by 304 runs in the opening Test at Galle.
“I don’t have any specific goals at all. I don’t have any numbers in front of my eyes to achieve. I just want to give my best for the country and in the process I know I can achieve something for myself as well,” he added.