Ashwin becomes highest wicket-taker among active cricketers

History was created on October 24 at the Maharastra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium when Ravichandran Ashwin picked up his third wicket in the ongoing Test against New Zealand. It took Ashwin’s wicket tally in Tests to 531, the highest for any bowler among active cricketers.

After missing out on the first Test, where he only picked up one wicket, that of Conway, Ashwin showed his worth here on a slow turner in Pune. The off-spinner was the only successful bowler for India in the second Test, starting the procession with the wicket of Tom Latham, the ninth time that he has dismissed the New Zealand skipper in Tests. 

Latham has been dismissed for the 9th time by Ashwin in Tests

Most dismissals for Tom Latham against a bowler in Tests
10 - Stuart Broad
9 - Ravichandran Ashwin
5 - Mitchell Starc
5 - Nathan Lyon
5 - Kemar Roach#INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/q93F1stEj6

— Cricket.com (@weRcricket) October 24, 2024

Ashwin didn’t stop there, removing a well-set Will Young with a ball that turned past the bat and got a glove straight into the hands of Rishabh Pant, which levelled him with Nathan Lyon’s record of 530 Test wickets. The off-spinner then set up Devon Conway brilliantly in an intriguing passage of play, where he tested the left-hander multiple times. 

But when he slowed the ball down and took it away from the left-hander, Conway succumbed, with his bat still hanging in the air, getting a healthy edge straight into Pant’s mitts. It took him to 531 Test wickets, going past Lyon’s tally, to become the highest wicket-taker among active cricketers. 

It was the third time that Ashwin had dismissed Conway in Tests, and the three-wicket haul was also his 85th three-wicket haul, the third-most for any bowler at home in Tests. Ashwin’s record is only behind James Anderson (92) and Muttiah Muralitharan (119).

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