Ashwin now the highest wicket-taker for India in a home season

Tags: Australia tour of India,2017, India Vs Australia 1st Test at Pune, Feb 23-27, 2017, India, Ravichandran Ashwin, wickets

Published on: Feb 24, 2017

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India's premier spinner and currently the number one bowler in Tests, Ravichandran Ashwin added another feather to his cap during the second day of the first Test against Australia at Pune on Friday.

India's premier spinner and currently the number one bowler in Tests, Ravichandran Ashwin added another feather to his cap during the second day of the first Test against Australia at Pune on Friday.

When the offie dismissed Australian all-rounder Mitchell Starc for 61 during the first over of the second day's play, Ashwin became the holder of the record for the highest wicket-taker for India in a home season.

With 64 wickets in the current season, the 31-year-old all-rounder went past Kapil Dev's record. The legend had claimed 63 wickets in a Test season. Incredibly, the feat was achieved during his early years in international cricket, in India's home season of 1979-80.

At the start of the Pune Test, Ashwin had 61 wickets in this season, at an impressive average of 24.55. Ashwin has been having a highly fruitful time of it of late. In the previous Test against Bangladesh, he broke the record for the fastest bowler to claim 250 wickets in Tests. He displaced none other than Aussie legend Dennis Lillee from the list.

Ashwin had dismissed Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim to reach the landmark of 250 wickets in 45 Test matches. Before Ashwin, Lillee was the fastest to reach 250 wickets in Tests, having got there in in 48 matches.

In September last year, Ashwin became the fastest Asian and second fastest in the world to claim 200 Test wickets. He took 37 Tests to reach the mark. The previous record was held by Pakistan's Waqar Younis who reached the landmark in 38 Tests.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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