On a ground where Sunil Gavaskar became the first batsman to score 10000 Test runs, on a ground where Sachin Tendulkar broke Gavaskar’s record of most Test centuries, on a ground where Kapil Dev broke Sir Richard Hadlee’s record of most Test wickets, Ravichandran Ashwin ensured that yet another feat was achieved at the same venue as he breached Mount.400 in Test cricket.
The champion off-spinner claimed his 400th scalp on the second evening of the ongoing pink ball Test as he trapped Jofra Archer plumb in front of the wicket.
And by doing that, Ashwin has become the second-fastest bowler in the history of the game to claim 400 Test wickets. The Tamil Nadu tweaker has taken just 77 Tests to breach the 400 barrier. Only Muttiah Muralitharan- 72 Tests- has brought up the milestone faster than him.
Ravichandran Ashwin is also the fastest to claim 300 Test wickets and the joint-fastest to 350 wickets alongside Muttiah Muralitharan.
What a champion bowler ??
4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Test wickets for @ashwinravi99 and we're sure there's still many more to come ???
Fastest Indian to achieve this milestone ???@Paytm #INDvENG #TeamIndia #PinkBallTest
Follow the match ? https://t.co/9HjQB6TZyX pic.twitter.com/QyvRUr9e4Y
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 25, 2021
Ashwin is the third Indian spinner after the legendary duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh and the fourth Indian bowler overall to claim 400 wickets in the longest format of the game.
Overall, Ravichandran Ashwin is the sixth spinner in the history of red-ball cricket to claim 400 wickets. In the same Test match, Ashwin has also become the fourth-fastest bowler to claim 600 international wickets. Ashwin has taken 234 matches to achieve the landmark and he is only preceded by Dale Steyn [211], Glenn McGrath [226], and Alan Donald [232]
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
What a journey for @ashwinravi99. 2nd quickest to get there. We are in the midst of greatness
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 25, 2021
Terrific consistency!
Well done, keep it up @ashwinravi99.
Joy to watch you bowl. #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/CEBkoUQVlR
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 25, 2021
Well done @ashwinravi99 on reaching 400 wickets .Phenomenal! Congratulations on a fantastic achievement. Great going, keep it up! ??
— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) February 25, 2021
Magnificent milestone for the spin wizard @ashwinravi99 Congratulations Ash on 400 Test Wickets. Keep ‘em coming. #INDvENG @StarSportsIndia pic.twitter.com/jFfa5hyzfV
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 25, 2021
What a journey for @ashwinravi99. 2nd quickest to get there. We are in the midst of greatness
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 25, 2021
A major milestone for India’s spin king R Ashwin ?#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/QbXdiD8fYO
— ICC (@ICC) February 25, 2021
Congratulations @ashwinravi99 on 400 test wickets.. well done.. keep going @BCCI @StarSportsIndia #ENGvIND
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) February 25, 2021
Who’d have thought Ravichandran Ashwin would beat Nathan Lyon to 400 Test wickets? He started the Australia-India series on 365 to Lyon’s 390. Lyon will be stuck on 399 for quite some time. #INDvENG
— Andrew Wu (@wutube) February 25, 2021
Fastest Indian to take
50 Test wickets: Ashwin
100 Test wickets: Ashwin
150 Test wickets: Ashwin
200 Test wickets: Ashwin
250 Test wickets: Ashwin
300 Test wickets: Ashwin
350 Test wickets: Ashwin
400 Test Wickets: Ashwin— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) February 25, 2021
Fastest Indian to take
50 Test wickets: Ashwin
100 Test wickets: Ashwin
150 Test wickets: Ashwin
200 Test wickets: Ashwin
250 Test wickets: Ashwin
300 Test wickets: Ashwin
350 Test wickets: Ashwin
400 Test Wickets: Ashwin— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) February 25, 2021
ASHWIN’S 400 ??? The biggest congratulations to Ravichandran Ashwin on 400 Test wickets! He gets Archer out for a duck – LBW. The man is a magician! Time to celebrate! Take a bow Ravi Ashwin! What a cricketer. ????????? #INDvENG
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) February 25, 2021
Who’d have thought Ravichandran Ashwin would beat Nathan Lyon to 400 Test wickets? He started the Australia-India series on 365 to Lyon’s 390. Lyon will be stuck on 399 for quite some time. #INDvENG
— Andrew Wu (@wutube) February 25, 2021
Fastest to 400 Test wickets (No. of matches):
72 – Muralitharan
77 – ASHWIN
80 – Hadlee
80 – Steyn
84 – Herath #INDvENG @ashwinravi99— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) February 25, 2021
Ashwin – 400 test wickets. Cook “I feel like I was 290 of them “
— Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy) February 25, 2021
R Ashwin has raced away to 400 Test wickets, in every literal sense.
Exceptional stuff!
— Nikhil ? (@CricCrazyNIKS) February 25, 2021
400 Test wickets in 77 matches ? @ashwinravi99 what a bowler #INDvsENG
— Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) February 25, 2021
400 Test wickets for Ashwin. A modern giant.
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) February 25, 2021
Magnificent milestone for the spin wizard @ashwinravi99 Congratulations Ash on 400 Test Wickets. Keep ‘em coming. #INDvENG @StarSportsIndia pic.twitter.com/jFfa5hyzfV
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 25, 2021
Great cricketer @ashwinravi99 !! #400
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 25, 2021
400 cheers to Ashwin @ashwinravi99 #INDvENG #400Wickets
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) February 25, 2021
Fastest to take 600 wickets across formats (Matches)
211 – D Steyn ??
226 – G McGrath ??
232 – A Donald ??
234 – R Ashwin* ??
236 – S Warne ??
240 – M Muralitharan ??
251 – B Lee ??#INDvENG #PinkBallTest— Sukriti Kuila (@sukriti_kuila) February 25, 2021