R Ashwin claims 688th International wicket; goes past Kapil Dev to claim third spot among Indian bowlers

Ravichandran Ashwin recorded history by claiming his 688th international wicket during the first session of Day 2 in Indore against Australia. The scalp puts him ahead of Kapil Dev in terms of wickets taken for India across all formats and the off-spinner only finds himself behind the illustrious duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

The senior bowler got to the landmark with the wicket of Alex Carey. He trapped the Australian wicket-keeper LBW as he played looking for turn. The left-handed batter took a review, but had to depart after three red indicators sealing Ashwin's wicket. He finished with figures of 3-44 after being introduced late into the attack.

The off-spinner overtook Kapil Dev's elusive tally of 434 Test wickets during the home series against Sri Lanka in March 2022. He has since reached the 450 wicket mark as well and his current tally reads 466. Apart from his exploits with the red-ball, he was a pivotal member of the white-ball side during his prime. He has claimed 151 ODI wickets and 72 T20I wickets over the course of his career.

Ravichandran Ashwin surpasses Kapil Dev to become India's third-highest wicket-taker in international cricket.

Most wickets for India across formats (innings):
953 (499) - Anil Kumble
707 (442) - Harbhajan Singh
688* (347) - Ashwin
687 (448) - Kapil Dev
597 (373) - Zaheer Khan

Kapil Dev, on the other hand, finished with 687 wickets over the course of his 16-year career with India. The leading wicket-taker among Indian pacers in Test cricket also claimed 253 wickets across 225 ODIs.

It took the former skipper 356 international fixtures to compile his wicket tally, while the senior spinner breached it while playing his 269th international fixture.

How many wickets does Ashwin need to be India's second-leading wicket-taker across all formats?

As mentioned before, Ashwin currently ranks third in terms of international wickets taken by Indian bowlers. Fellow off-spinner Harbhajan Singh occupies the second spot with 707 international wickets. As a result, the Tamil Nadu-born player only requires 19 wickets to overtake the tally and occupy the second tally.

With a considerable portion of the home series against Australia left coupled with the fact that the off-spinner has shown no signs of slowing down, it is almost certain that he will overtake Harbhajan Singh sooner rather than later.

🖐️🇮🇳 #blessed #grateful https://t.co/jWctbSMmLJ

Anil Kumble, India's leading wicket-taker across Tests and ODIs, currently occupies the top spot with 953 wickets.

Will R Ashwin end up overtaking the legendary leg-spinner by the time he ends his international career? Let us know what you think.