Abhijay Raj Vaish, Pune
Ravichandran Ashwin achieved the milestone of playing 100 test matches for India during the final test match of the series against England at HPCA stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday. He became only the 14th Indian to achieve the feat and was facilitated by the Indian team’s head coach Rahul Dravid while also getting a guard of honor from the Indian team.
The stalwart off-spinner has broken several records during his 13-year long career in the whites. He became only the second Indian and ninth overall to clinch 500 test wickets during the third test match in Rajkot. The amount of matches taken to achieve this tally has only been topped by Muttiah Muralitharan placing Ashwin at the second position with 98 matches required to get to the milestone. He also boasts the best strike rate for any spinner in the history of test cricket with minimum 150 wickets.
Ashwin is currently second to Bumrah in the ICC bowlers’ ranking and has been a key figure in setting the tone for India’s home dominance over the past few years. India has now won 17 consecutive test series at home with the Tamil-Nadu player overtaking Anil Kumble for most wickets in the Indian subcontinent. He has aided India with his spin brilliance winning 44 of the 59 matches at home with an average of 19.11 since his debut in 2011. The veteran spinner is also set to equal Virat Kohli’s record of most test wins for India claiming 59 victories if India is able to win the match in Dharamsala. The veteran now sits at 507 wickets with an overall average of 23.91 and has featured in every single test match at home since his debut.
This match will also serve as the 100th Test match for English batter Jonny Bairstow making them only the fourth pair of cricketers to play their 100th test together. This elite list will be joined by Kane Williamson and Tim Southee during the Test match against Australia on March 8.
India currently leads the series 3-1 with the final test beginning today in Dharamsala.