Ravichandran Ashwin becomes first player in 147 years history of Test cricket to pick up five-wicket hauls on debut and 100th match
Ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has become the first player to pick up a five-wicket haul on his debut and in his 100th Test. That came as Ashwin bagged a fifer in the second innings against England on Day 3 of the fifth Test at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday, March 9.
The 37-year-old spun a web for England’s top order – Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pop, Ben Stokes, and Ben Foakes. It was his 36th five-wicket haul, which helped him go past former captain Anil Kumble’s record for India in Test cricket.
Interestingly, no other player has bagged five-wicket hauls in both debut and 100th Tests. Ashwin had picked up nine wickets, including a six-wicket haul, on his Test debut against the West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi in November 2011. The hosts won that game by five wickets.
Ashwin, who recently bagged his 500th Test wicket, had scalped a four-fer in the first innings against England. He has picked up 26 wickets against the visitors to become the leading wicket-taker in the five-match Test series.
Ravichandran Ashwin becomes the fourth bowler to bag a fifer in his 100th Test
Ravichandran Ashwin, meanwhile, has become the fourth bowler to bag a fifer in his 100th Test. The off-spinner joined Anil Kumble, Shane Warne, and Muttiah Muralitharan on the elite list of players with a fifer in the 100th Test.
Ashwin has stretched his tally to 516 wickets in 100 Tests so far. The Tamil Nadu-born bowler is only behind Kumble (619), James Anderson (700), Warne (708), and Muralitharan (800) for most wickets in the format.
Earlier in the day, Anderson dismissed Kuldeep Yadav to become the first pacer to complete 700 Test wickets.
As far as the match is concerned, England lost the fifth Test by an innings and 64 runs. As a result, the Ben Stokes-led side lost the five-match series 4-1 in India.
Click here to check out the full IND vs ENG Dharamshala Test scorecard.