Stats: Ravi Ashwin goes past Bishen Singh Bedi in 5-wicket hauls
Ravichandran Ashwin’s 12-wicket haul in the 3rd Test of the India-South Africa series helped India deliver a crushing defeat on the Proteas and clinch the series by taking a 2-0 lead with a solitary Test to go. The Indian offie managed to pick up a 5-wicket haul in both innings, which makes it 3 for him in the series, increasing his tally of wickets to 24 in just 5 innings.
In the process of getting 7 for 66 in South Africa’s 2nd innings, Ashwin surpassed former Indian left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi in the list of Indian bowlers who have taken 5 wickets in an innings the most number of times. In his 67 Test-long career, Bedi took a five-wicket haul as many as 14 times in an innings.
Post the completion of the Nagpur Test, Ashwin now has 15 five-wicket hauls in Tests which has sent him to the fifth position in the all-time list. The tall off-spinner is only bettered by Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Kapil Dev and BS Chandrasekhar. Although Ashwin still has a while to go before he catches up with the top 3, another couple of five-fors in the 4th Test will see him go past Chandrasekhar, who is 4th on the list with 16.
Following is the list of Indian bowlers with most five-fors in an innings:
| Bowler | Matches | Wickets | 5-wkt hauls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anil Kumble | 132 | 619 | 35 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 103 | 417 | 25 |
| Kapil Dev | 131 | 434 | 23 |
| BS Chandrasekhar | 58 | 242 | 16 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 31 | 169 | 15 |
| Bishan Singh Bedi | 67 | 266 | 14 |
| Subhas Gupte | 36 | 149 | 12 |
| Zaheer Khan | 92 | 311 | 11 |
| Erapalli Prasanna | 49 | 189 | 10 |
| Javagal Srinath | 67 | 236 | 10 |
The Nagpur Test also marked the 4th occasion on which Ravichandran Ashwin has picked up 10 wickets or more in a match. Only the legendary spinner Anil Kumble and his outstanding ally Harbhajan Singh have taken more 10-wicket match hauls in Test matches.
While Kumble is right at the top of the list with 8 ten-fors against his name, Harbhajan stands second with 5 of them. Another 10-wicket haul in the 4th Test will bring Ashwin to the joint-second position alongside Bhajji.
The table below shows the bowlers who have taken the most 10-wicket hauls for India in Tests:
| Bowler | Matches | Wickets | 10-wkt hauls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anil Kumble | 132 | 619 | 8 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 103 | 417 | 5 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 31 | 169 | 4 |
| Irfan Pathan | 29 | 100 | 2 |
| Maninder Singh | 35 | 88 | 2 |
It is difficult to predict the future for Ravichandran Ashwin, but the rate at which he is going at present may help him break a lot of bowling records for India.