Champion Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has added another feather to his already illustrious cap as he surpassed the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan to dismiss the most number of left-handers in Test match cricket.
Ashwin, who has been absolutely brilliant throughout the ongoing Test series, claimed the feat after he dismissed Australia’s No.11 Josh Hazlewood in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
Hazlewood became Ashwin’s 192nd left-hand victim out of his total scalps (375). Prior to Ashwin, Muttiah Muralitharan held the numero-uno spot, having claimed the wicket of 191 southpaws out of his total dismissals (800).
England’s James Anderson is third on the list with 186 scalps followed by the legendary Australian duo of Glenn McGrath (172) and Shane Warne, who dismissed a total of 172 left-handers.
Dismissing Left-Handed batsmen most number of times in Test History
R Ashwin – 192 (51.2%)
Muttiah Muralitharan – 191 (23.8 %)
James Anderson – 186 (31%)
Glenn McGrath – 172 (30.5%)
Shane Warne – 172 (24.2%)#AUSvsIND— ESPNcricinfo stats (@ESPNcric_stats) December 29, 2020
Ravichandran Ashwin has been on song in the Test series
The champion off-spinner has outfoxed Aussie batsmen with his subtle variations jn pace and his consistency in delivering the loopy off-break.
Steve Smith, in particular, has struggled to get going against Ashwin, having fallen to him on two occasions in four innings. While he outfoxed Smith with a straighter one in Adelaide to induce his outside edge, in Melbourne, the Australian fell in the leg-side trap as he flicked the off-spinner straight to leg-slip to register his first duck in Test cricket since 2016.
Ashwin has thus far outbowled his counterpart Nathan Lyon and has claimed as many as 10 wickets in just 4 innings.