Ishant Sharma entered the 200-wicket club in his 65th Test when he took the wicket of Angelo Mathews on Day Five of the third Test between India and Sri Lanka at Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), Colombo. Ishant had taken five wickets in the first innings, and struck twice again early in the second innings as well before going wicketless till the final session on Day Five. He needed three balls with the second new ball to take out Mathews for 110. Ishant has been outstanding for India over the last couple of years, leading the pace attack and getting important wickets at key moments for India. His best innings bowling figures of 7 for 74 resulted in India’s first Test win at Lord’s since 1986. He is only the fourth Indian pace bowler to reach 200 wickets in Tests. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test at Colombo (SSC)
Below is a table showing Indian bowlers with at least 200 wickets in Tests:
| Player | Period | M | W | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 5WI | 10WM |
| Anil Kumble | 1990-2008 | 132 | 619 | 10/74 | 14/149 | 29.65 | 2.69 | 65.9 | 35 | 8 |
| Kapil Dev | 1978-1994 | 131 | 434 | 9/83 | 11/146 | 29.64 | 2.78 | 63.9 | 23 | 2 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 1998-2015 | 103 | 417 | 8/84 | 15/217 | 32.46 | 2.84 | 68.5 | 25 | 5 |
| Zaheer Khan | 2000-2014 | 92 | 311 | 7/87 | 10/149 | 32.94 | 3.27 | 60.4 | 11 | 1 |
| Bishan Singh Bedi | 1966-1979 | 67 | 266 | 7/98 | 10/194 | 28.71 | 2.14 | 80.3 | 14 | 1 |
| Bhagwath Chandrasekhar | 1964-1979 | 58 | 242 | 8/79 | 12/104 | 29.74 | 2.7 | 65.9 | 16 | 2 |
| Javagal Srinath | 1991-2002 | 67 | 236 | 8/86 | 13/132 | 30.49 | 2.85 | 64 | 10 | 1 |
| Ishant Sharma | 2007-2015 | 65 | 200 | 7/74 | 10/108 | 36.56 | 3.36 | 65.1 | 7 | 1 |
Anil Kumble is India’s leading wicket-taker in Test cricket with 619 scalps, while Kapil Dev and Harbhajan Singh are the only others to have over 400 wickets. Zaheer Khan has over 300 wickets (311), while Bishan Singh Bedi and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar have over 200 wickets each. Bedi (28.71) has the best average among all bowlers with at least 200 wickets, while Zaheer (60.4) has the best strike rate. READ: Did Ishant Sharma and Dhammika Prasad really cross a line in India vs Sri Lanka 2015, 3rd Test?
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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