India’s Ravichandran Ashwin on Monday became the first bowler to bag at least 50 wickets in each of the three World Test Championship (WTC) cycles played so far. The incredible feat came with the dismissal of Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan for nine runs, which took him to 182 WTC wickets overall, six short of Nathan Lyon’s record of 187-the most in WTC history.
Let’s take a glance at Ashwin’s amazing WTC record so far:
| RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN’S RECORD IN THE WTC | |||
| CYCLE | MATCHES | WICKETS | BEST FIGURES |
| 2019-2021 | 14 | 71 | 7-145 |
| 2021-2023 | 13 | 61 | 6-91 |
| 2023-2025* | 10* | 50* | 7-71 |
| TOTAL | 37* | 182* | 7-71 |
(*Running)
Ashwin Closes in on All-Time WTC Records
Ashwin has now become the second-highest wicket-taker in WTC history, with 182 wickets after a little over 37 matches. Nathan Lyon of Australia still remains on the top rung with 187 dismissals, but Ashwin still needs a few more wickets to surpass that figure. And if Ashwin takes two more wickets in the current match, then he will become the first cricketer to cross Josh Hazlewood’s record for most wickets in the ongoing WTC cycle (2023-25), where Hazlewood tops the list with 51 wickets in 11 matches.
| MOST WICKETS IN WTC HISTORY | ||
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | WICKETS |
| Nathan Lyon | Australia | 187* |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 182* |
| Pat Cummins | Australia | 175* |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 147* |
| Stuart Broad | England | 134 |
(*Running)
WTC 2023-25: Battle for Most Wickets Taken
Ashwin enters the race with 50 wickets in 10 games as he reaches the second spot. He is a wicket away from moving past Australia’s Josh Hazlewood in the WTC cycle, and he is set to finish the series short of doing so.
| MOST WICKETS IN WTC 2023-2025 CYCLE | ||
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | WICKETS |
| Josh Hazlewood | Australia | 51* |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 50* |
| Pat Cummins | Australia | 48* |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 48* |
| Chris Woakes | England | 43* |
(*Running)
IND vs BAN: Ashwin Levels Zaheer Khan’s Record
Second wicket in Bangladesh’s first innings also took him to level with Zaheer Khan for India-Bangladesh Test wickets. Each now stands with 31 wickets taken across this Test rivalry.
| MOST WICKETS IN IND vs BAN TEST SERIES | ||
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | WICKETS |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 31* |
| Zaheer Khan | India | 31 |
| Ishant Sharma | India | 25* |
| Umesh Yadav | India | 22* |
| Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | 21 |
(*Running)
Ashwin In Pursuit of Test Cricket Milestones
Ashwin, who had taken 6/88 in the first test of this series, is inching closer to yet another coveted milestone. He needs three more wickets to complete his 38th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Should he do it here, he would also surpass Shane Warne’s record so far who had 37 five-wicket hauls in his career.
Ashwin’s record string of performances and the fact that he had always delivered on the biggest stages made him one of the most decorated spinners in the world, but with history books continually being rewritten, the question remained how much further he would be able to take such remarkable records.
The Sportz Planet Desk,
Atharva Shetye
