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India vs New Zealand: Ravichandran Ashwin’s 9 milestone wickets

Here's the list of the milestone wickets of Ravichandran Ashwin's career so far

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Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 7 wickets in the first test against New Zealand so far © AFP

Ravichandran Ashwin became the second fastest bowler to claim 200 Test wickets as he achieved the milestone in his 37th match only behind Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett, who achieved tis feat in 36 Tests. Ashwin reached his 200th wicket by dismissing New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson in Kanpur, where India are playing their 500th Test. Ashwin incidentally has also become the fastest off-spinner in history to reach 200 wickets ahead of Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who managed to take 200 wickets in 42 Tests. Here is the list of some of the milestone wickets that Ashwin has taken on his route to his 200 wickets in Tests so far.

Ashwin’s 1st wicket – Dwayne Bravo (West Indies in 2011)

Ashwin made his Test debut back in November 2011 against West Indies at Feroz Shah Kotla, where he scalped total nine wickets. He got three wickets in the first innings and six in the second. India won this first of the three-match Test series and Ashwin was named the man of the match for his outstanding figures of 9 for 128 as India went on to win this match by 5 wickets as they successfully chased a target of 276 runs in the second innings. Ashwin’s first ever wicket was of Dwayne Bravo whom he had clean bowled him in the first innings. Ashwin again got Bravo in the second innings to mark his fifth wicket in Test format. It was during this time that India witnessed the emergence of a good off-spinner after Harbhajan Singh. READ:India vs New Zealand 1st Test Day 4: Kiwis face inevitable defeat

Ashwin’s 25th wicket – Nathan Lyon (Australia in 2011)

India went on for a long tour of Australia towards the end of 2011. India had a big challenge in front of them as the conditions were not so favourable. India were lined to play a four-match Test series against the hosts, out of which the first was played at Melbourne from 26th to 30th December. But the visitors succumbed against a strong Australian bowling attack as they lost the series opener by 122 runs. Australia batted first and mounted a total of 333. In the first innings of this match, Ashwin took three wickets and the third was his 25th wicket of his career. He rattled the stumps of Nathan Lyon to get his wicket tally to 25 in his fourth Test.

Ashwin’s 50th wicket – Nick Compton (England in 2012)

By the time England came to India, Ashwin had established himself as frontline spinner for India. He had been consistent in the longest format as he had dominated in Australia and back in India against New Zealand before England came in for a long tour. England were supposed to play a four-match Test series, out of which the first was played at Ahmadabad. Ashwin took three wickets in the first innings and a single wicket in the second. Ashwin got rid of Nick Compton in the first innings as he dislodged Compton’s stumps who was stuck at the crease without scoring many runs. Compton had scored only 9 runs off 53 deliveries before a ripper from Ashwin got rid of the clumsy looking Compton. India went on to win this match by 10 wickets.

Ashwin’s 75th wicket – Mitchell Starc (Australia in 2013)

It was early in 2013 when Australia had a four-Test match series lined up against India, of which the first Test was scheduled to be played at MA Chidambaram stadium, Chennai. Ashwin rattled through the strong Australian batting line-up as he took total 12 wickets in this Test (seven wickets in the first innings and five in the second). It was during the second innings that Ashwin dismissed Mitchell Starc to register his five-wicket haul and also his 75th wicket in Tests.

Ashwin’s 100th wicket – Darren Sammy (West Indies in 2013)

This was probably the Test match, which no cricket fan could ever forget as Sachin Tendulkar played his last ever Test at his home ground. West Indies had come to India to play a two-match Test series off which India had already won the opener at Kolkata. Ashwin dismissed Darren Sammy in the first innings to reach the milestone of 100 wickets. He took total seven wickets in the match as he got three in the first and four in the second innings of the match. India went on to win this match by an innings and 126 runs as other spinner Pragyan Ojha took total 10 wickets in the match.

Ashwin’s 125th wicket – Lahiru Thirimanne (Sri Lanka in 2015)

Ashwin had a poor bowling form in the mid of 2015 as he was being very predictable for the opposition. He even had wicketless matches during this time or had one or two wickets. But when India toured Sri Lanka, it seemed like Ashwin regained his lost confidence. India were to play three-match Test series against Sri Lanka off which the first was played at Galle. Ashwin returned to form as he took a total of 10 wickets in the series opener out of which he took six wickets in the first inning and four in the second. thirimanne happened to be one of his scalps and aso the 125th of his career. Despite his 10-wicket haul, India still lost the series opener as Sri Lanka chased a target of 176 successfully in the second innings to register a comprehensive win.

Ashwin’s 150th wicket – Imran Tahir (South Africa in 2015)

Since the Sri Lanka tour, Ashwin regained his form and was again amongst the wicket-takers on a consistent basis. Team South Africa came India to play a four-match Test series and the first Test was played at Mohali. Ashwin removed Imran Tahir in the first innings to get his five-wicket haul and also his 150 Test wicket. India won comfortably as they notched up the win in just three days as both Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked up eight wickets each to wind up the South African innings.

Ashwin’s 175th wicket – J P Duminy (South Africa in 2015)

Ashwin had one of the best series against South Africa as he took a total of 31 wickets in this series. It was during the last Test of this series at Feroz Shah Kotla, Ashwin got his 175th Test wicket of his career. It was during the first innings of the South African batting that he dismissed J P Duminy that he got to this milestone. It was one on of the best performance that the off-spinner has displayed in his career so far as India won the four-match series 3-0. They could not complete a whitewash as the second Test at Bangalore was washed out.

Ashwin’s 200th wicket – Kane Williamson (New Zealand in 2016)

This is the latest milestone Ashwin has achieved in the ongoing Test series against New Zealand. New Zealand will be playing three-Test series against India out of which they are currently playing the first at Kanpur. He dismissed the New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson in the second innings to get to the milestone of 200 Test wickets. Ashwin has so far taken four wickets in the first and three in the second innings. New Zealand still have six wickets in tact and there is a good chance that Ashwin may get yet another 10-wicket haul.

(Rohan A. Sawant is a reporter for CricketCountry. He loves Football, Cricket and is a die-hard Arsenal fan. He is an avid writer and has some knowledge about cricket and so he is trying his best to pour with his Laptop as he finds writing with pen and paper very clumsy. You can follow him on Twitter @iswandering)

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