Ashwin fastest to 250 scalps, breaks Lillee mark
HYDERABAD: Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest to get to 250 Test wickets when he removed Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim just before lunch on Sunday. Ashwin reached the milestone in his 45th Test, three less than former Australia fast bowler Dennis Lillee (48). The India off-spinner was two short of the mark going into the Test.
He returned figures of two for 98 in 28.5 overs in the first innings, arguably his worst spell in the subcontinent since June 2015, after his 1/151 in Chennai and 2/167 in Rajkot against England earlier this season.
“It was a delight to bowl in the second innings. I was a little rusty in the first, got into a better rhythm in the second straightaway, with the new ball,” Ashwin said. “Good to have the record out of the way.”
Ashwin’s 250th scalp came when Mushfiqur failed to control a sweep, edging it to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.
BIG GROUND HELPS
Ahead of the game, Ashwin had said he enjoys bowling here. “It has a lush green outfield and it is a big ground for a spinner. You can toss the ball a bit more. There is a bit of hold and bounce, so it allows you to be imaginative,” he had said. He was in better control in the Bangladesh second innings. He picked the wickets of Soumya Sarkar and Mominul Haque with deliveries that they failed to keep down.
INTELLIGENT BOWLER
Cheteshwar Pujara hailed him as a thinking bowler. “He thinks as a batsman,” he said.
Ashwin became the sixth Indian bowler to reach the 250wicket mark, joining Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Bishan Bedi.
Ashwin has had a stellar 16 months. He became the second fastest to reach 200 wickets, against New Zealand at Kanpur last September. Only Australian Clarrie Grimmett, a pre-World War II bowler, had reached the milestone faster.
He has taken over a 100 wickets in just over a year. He won the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Cricketer of the Year awards.
Before this Test, Ashwin had taken 103 wickets in 17 matches since the 2015 tour by South Africa. He took 27 in the three-Test series against New Zealand and 28 in five Tests against England. The performances came after he took 17 wickets in the West Indies.