India vs New Zealand 2021: 3 milestones Ravichandran Ashwin can reachÂ
Ravichandran Ashwin has been India's impact bowler for a long time now, especially in Test matches. The tweaker will now don the Test jersey after last turning up against New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final earlier this year.
Now the very same Ravichandran Ashwin will most certainly show up against the same team that he's tormented over the years. Ashwin has already bagged 52 wickets against the Kiwis. This makes him one of India's most successful bowlers against Kane Williamson & Co.
Ravichandran Ashwin made a comeback in the T20I format recently in the T20 World Cup and the India-NZ series. He is now set to reach a bunch of milestones when he gets ready to bowl at Kanpur on Thursday (November 23) in the first test.
Ahead of the much-anticipated Test series, we take a look at three milestones he can achieve.
#1 Ravichandran Ashwin needs to dismiss Williamson once more, the most by any Indian bowler
In all of their encounters, Ravichandran Ashwin has been a tormentor for Williamson by dismissing him five times. He has equalled former tweaker Pragyan Ojha.
With four innings for Williamson to bowl to, the spinner has a realistic shot of dismissing the Kiwi captain again.
#2 He needs four wickets to tie Harbhajan Singh for most Test wickets
Ravichandran Ashwin has 413 wickets from 79 matches in Test cricket at an average of 24.56. He trails former spinner Harbhajan Singh (417) and needs four more wickets to vault the decorated off-spinner.
Leading the list of wicket-takers are former stars Anil Kumble (619) and Kapil Dev (434). Ashwin is followed by pacer Ishant Sharma (413).
#3 Needs one more 10-wicket haul to equal Anil Kumble
Ashwin has seven 10-wicket hauls, the second-highest by an Indian bowler in Test cricket. Leading the pack is Kumble with eight 10w's. Should the Tamil Nadu spinner run riot through the Kiwi batting order, this could be another landmark that he can achieve in the two-Test series.