IND vs SL: Ravichandran Ashwin's Impact Has Been Close To That Of Kapil Dev - Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian player Gautam Gambhir said Ravichandran Ashwin’s impact on the Indian team has been similar to that of former Indian captain Kapil Dev. On Sunday, the Tamil Nadu player surpassed  Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 Test wickets in the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium in Mohali.

Ashwin got the wickets of Sri Lanka all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva and Lahiru Thirimanne in the first innings and as India enforced the visitors to follow on, Ashwin was once again on the song, he claimed four wickets in the second innings.

Ashwin once again got the better of Thirimanne in the early part of the innings before he forced Pathum Nissanka to nick behind the stumps, initially, the appeal was turned down by the on-field umpire but after India’s DRS the decision went in the bowler’s favour.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s impact has been close to that of Kapil Dev: Gautam Gambhir

The Indian spinner claimed Charith Asalanka’s wicket as his 435th Test wicket to leapfrog Kapil Dev (434) in the list of most Test wickets by Indian bowlers. Ashwin is just behind former Indian skipper Anil Kumble’s 619 Test dismissals.

Gambhir said that Ashwin’s contribution to Indian cricket is close to that of Kapil Dev and the 40-year-old didn’t analyse much about the statistics of the two all-rounders.

“Probably not second. I think parallel to Kapil Dev because of the sort of impact Ravichandran Ashwin has had. Ravichandran Ashwin’s impact has been close to that of Kapil Dev. He has scored five Test hundreds although I don’t want to go with stats, they can be very very misleading,” Gambhir said on Star Sports. 

I am delighted and very grateful to what this game has given me: Ravichandran Ashwin

After his remarkable achievement, Ashwin admitted that he had dreamed of breaking Kapil Dev’s tally of Test wickets during his childhood days. Ashwin also expressed his gratitude for all the things he could achieve in his cricketing career.

“28 years ago, I was cheering the great @therealkapildev (Kapil Dev) on to get his world record tally of wickets,” Ashwin wrote in his caption on his Instagram post, which was uploaded on Sunday after the first Test. 

“I never had the slightest of ideas that I would become an off-spinner, play for my country and even manage to go past the great man’s tally of wickets. I am delighted and very grateful to what this game has given me so far,” he further wrote.

Ashwin has picked 306 of his 436 Test wickets on Indian soil and holds the record of being the fastest bowler to pick 300 Test wickets in 54 matches.

Also Read: IND vs SL: Ravichandran Ashwin Is An All-Time Great In My Eyes – Rohit Sharma