On Friday, February 16, on the second day of the third Test match against England, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin achieved the historic 500 Test wicket record. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Ravichandran Ashwin for his “extraordinary milestone” of becoming the second-fastest bowler to reach 500 wickets in the format.
On the second day of the third Test in Rajkot, Ashwin had an amazing day with the bat and the ball. He batted after India had lost two wickets early on, and he and Dhruv Jurel put together a well-planned 77-run stand to guarantee that India went past 400 runs.
India finished their innings with 445 runs because of the 37 runs from Ashwin. India needed to break the opening stand between Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, so they would look to the off-spinner once more for assistance.
Extraordinary milestone – PM Narendra Modi on Ravichandran Ashwin completing 500 wickets
Crawley’s decision to go for a sweep shot came just after Ashwin had begun to look at run flow. Mistimed, the attempt found its way right to the fielder, making Ashwin the second Indian player to reach the 500-wick milestone. Regarding the record for most Test wickets for India, Ashwin trails only former captain Anil Kumble (619).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X (formerly Twitter) and tagged Ravichandran Ashwin:
“Congratulations to Ravichandran Ashwin on the extraordinary milestone of taking 500 Test wickets! His journey and accomplishments are testament to his skill and perseverance. My best wishes to him as he scales further peaks,”
In the format, just nine bowlers have taken more over 500 wickets overall. They are Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (708), James Anderson (696*), Stuart Broad (604), Glenn McGrath (563), Courtney Walsh (519), and Nathan Lyon (517*). Ashwin is the third off-spinner to reach the significant milestone.
Ashwin is now the ninth bowler to get 500 wickets overall. Since making his Test debut in 2011, Ashwin has developed into one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history. He attempted to become a pacer after wanting to be a batter. Still, as a spinner, he found his groove. In the Test format, he was the fastest to reach 300 wickets.