Ravichandran Ashwin hopes to double his 300 wickets in Test cricket

The ace off-spinner of India Ravichandran Ashwin is hoping to take more than 600 wickets in Test cricket in the near future. He reached the landmark of 300 wickets in whites during the second Test match of the three-match series against Sri Lanka in Nagpur at VCA Stadium. Ashwin also became the fastest bowler to achieve the feat and went past the legends like Dennis Lillee and Muttiah Muralitharan.

The ongoing Test which India won by an innings and 239 runs on Monday was the 54th Test of his career. Lillee and Muralitharan had picked 300 wickets in 56 and 58 Test matches respectively. The memorable moment for the bowler coupled with the Indian win as he scalped the last wicket of the Sri Lankan innings. He castled Lahiru Gamage for a duck with a beautiful off-spinning delivery.

Not easy bowling spin

Ravichandran Ashwin picked a match haul of 8/130 in the second Test match of the ongoing series against the sub-continental side. He was delighted after achieving the feat and hoped that he would double his tally in the near future. “I really hope I can go on to double these 300 wickets. I’ve only played 50 Tests,” the 31-year-old spinner said after India’s win. “It`s not easy bowling spin, it looks like you’re just ambling up. But there`s a lot (that goes) behind it,” he said after spinning Team India to victory on Monday.

The off-spinner went wicketless in the first Test in Kolkata at the Eden Gardens on a green wicket. But the 31-year-old made a strong comeback and bowled beautifully to bamboozle the visitors. He can add more to his tally in the third and final Test match in Delhi which will commence on December 2. India also levelled their biggest margin of the victory which they had achieved against Bangladesh in 2007. Ashwin would love to continue in the same vein as India is set to be on the road for most of 2018.