Ravichandran Ashwin surpasses Kapil Dev for most wickets in a home season

World number one bowler and all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin added one more milestone to his name by becoming the highest wicket-taker in a home Test season. Mitchell Starc became Ashwin’s 64th victim in only 10 Test matches that the leading spinner has played in India this season.

With that, the 30-year-old surpassed legendary all-rounder and former India World Cup winning skipper Kapil Dev, who had 63 wickets from 13 matches in the 1979-80 season. Sri Lankan legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has cemented the No.3 and No.4 spots by scalping 54 wickets in the 2001-2002 and 2003-2004 season.

The Tamil Nadu born all-rounder need just one more wicket to go past current Indian coach Anil Kumble’s tally of 64 wickets in the 2004-05 season (both home and away), which stands as the Indian record for now. The all-time Test record is with South African speedster Dale Steyn, who has bagged 78 Test wickets from 12 matches in the 2007-08 season.

Ashwin became the fastest bowler to scalp 250 Test wickets recently, as he went past Dennis Lillee’s (48 matches) record by three Test matches. The Indian all-rounder has also got four Test tons to his name, apart from 24 five-wicket hauls and 7 Man of the series awards.

He started the home season on a strong note by picking 27 Test wickets from three Test matches against New Zealand. India went on to win that series 3-0 against the Kiwis. He also dismissed 28 Englishmen during the five-Test home series against England.

Against Bangladesh, Ashwin found the going bit tough on a wicket that was good for batting and had to be content with mere six wickets in the one-off Test match. He has currently pocketed 3 wickets in the ongoing 1st Test match against Australia at Pune, as he ended the first innings with figures of 3/63 from 34.5 overs.

Here is the list of Indian bowlers with most wickets in a season: