Ashwin’s 500th wicket came when he came into the attack during the 1st innings of the Test match in Rajkot and within the 7 balls of his spell, the veteran spinner managed to remove England opener Zack Crawley from the crease.

In the process, Ashwin broke a number of records, including that of the fastest Indian to 500 wickets, previously held by Anil Kumble. Ashwin is second only to Muttiah Muralitharan, who reached the milestone in just 87 matches, while the Indian off-spinner took 98.

Interestingly, Kumble, who was part of the JioCinema commentary team, was not only delighted to see Ashwin break his record, but also made a special request to the 37-year-old, urging him to take many more scalps before bidding farewell to the game.

“Ash! Congratulations. Very proud of you, for your 500 and many more. 620, 625, 700. Okay, that’s where you need to finish, you know, do not think anywhere below that,” Kumble spoke on JioCinema. 

Notably, Kumble, who is considered the greatest Indian spinner of all time, ended his career with 619 Test wickets and his request for Ashwin not to end his career before 620 wickets underlines that the former cricketer wants his countrymen to break another one of his records.

Kumble also had a few more words of praise for Ashwin while speaking to JioCinema. He said (as quoted by India Today), “I think an outstanding, outstanding achievement started 13 years ago, 2011-12 against the West Indies. And then from there on, in the first Test itself, he picked up that fifer. It’s not easy to live up to those expectations right throughout. 98 matches and 500, outstanding. I think in terms of the strike rate is less than 52 wickets, which is like that of a fast bowler,” 

Milestone Alert!
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Published: 20 Feb 2024, 03:31 PM IST