Ravichandran Ashwin becomes leading wicket-taker in Border-Gavaskar Trophy history
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the highest wicket-taker in the history of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia on Friday.
Ashwin accomplished this milestone during India's fourth and final Test against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
In the first innings, Ashwin weaved his magic yet again on a pitch that did not really offer much help to spinners. He ended up with a spell of 6/91 in 47.2 overs.
He took key wickets of Travis Head (32), Cameron Green (114), Alex Carey (0), Mitchell Starc (6), Nathan Lyon (34) and Todd Murphy (41).
Anil Kumble hailed Ashwin's class after the premier off-spinner picked up a six-wicket haul against Australia. ‘Well Bowled @ashwinravi99 Class!’ Kumble tweeted.
Now in 22 matches, Ashwin has taken 113 wickets at an average of 28.10 and an economy rate of 2.71. His best bowling figures in an inning are 7/103 in BGT.
Lyon is the joint-highest wicket-taker in the history of the series, with 113 wickets. But he is in the second position as he has taken 26 matches to reach this number. His average is 31.92 and his economy rate is 3.09. His best bowling figures against India in Tests is 8/50.
Ashwin and Lyon are followed by Indian spin legends Anil Kumble (111) and Harbhajan Singh (95). Ravindra Jadeja is the fifth-highest wicket-taker in BGT history, with 85 wickets.
This was also Ashwin's 26th five-wicket haul in India, the most by any bowler in India. Overall, he has a total of 32 five-wicket hauls, which is the fifth-highest in the history of Test cricket. The highest number of Test five-wicket hauls are taken by Sri Lankan spin wizard Mutthiah Muralidaran, who has a total of 67 five-wicket hauls in the longer format.
Ashwin is also the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He has taken a total of 24 wickets in four matches, with the best figures of 6/91.
Coming to the match, Australia scored a massive 480 runs in their first innings. Centuries from Usman Khawaja (180) and Cameron Green (114) helped the visitors reach such a big total. Khawaja also got the third-highest score by an Australian in India, with Matthew Hayden scoring 203 in 2001 in Chennai and Dean Jones scoring 210 in the same state back in 1986.
Khawaja faced the most number of balls by an Australian batter in India against India, with a total of 422 balls.
A late 70-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Nathan Lyon (34) and Todd Murphy (41) also troubled the hosts.
Ashwin impressed with the ball, taking 6/91 in his 47.2 overs. Mohammed Shami also took two wickets. Jadeja and Axar Patel also took one wicket.
