Stats: R Ashwin breaks Dale Steyn's record of most Test wickets in a season
With the wicket of Steve Smith in the post Lunch session of the fourth Test, Ravichandran Ashwin broke the record for the most number of wickets taken by an international cricketer in a single season of Test cricket.
The 30-year-old picked up his 79th wicket of the season, when he removed Smith, thereby going past Dale Steyn who had taken 78 wickets in the 2007/08 season. The Indian has reached the mark in his 13 Test matches and at an average of 25.64.
Ashwin began the season with 27 Test wickets in the three-match Test series against New Zealand, helping his side complete a 3-0 whitewash. He then backed that with 28 wickets in the five-match Test series against England, which India won 4-0.
Then in the one-off Test against Bangladesh, he took 6 wickets and now in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia, he has taken 18 wickets and could add to that tally with one more innings to go in the series.
Ashwin’s spinning partner Ravindra Jadeja is third on the very list while former India spinner and current coach of the side Anil Kumble is fifth on the list with 64 wickets, that he claimed in the 2004/05 season.
The off-spinner has had a staggering time with the ball in the past few years, having finished as the highest wicket-taker across all three formats of the game with 97 scalps in 31 matches at an average of 22.89.
His exploits with the ball also earned him his maiden ICC Test Cricketer of the Year as well as the International Cricketer of the Year awards.
Note: Accurate as of Tea on the opening day of the fourth Test.