Pune, October 24
Indian spin veteran Ravichandran Ashwin overtook Australian legend Nathan Lyon to become the leading wicket-taker in the history of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).
Ashwin accomplished this feat during the second Test against New Zealand at Pune's Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) stadium.
During the game in the first innings, Ashwin has so far taken three wickets for 48 runs in 19 overs at an economy rate of 2.50.
Now in 39 matches since the tournament started taking place in a league format in 2019, Ashwin has picked up a massive 189 wickets at an average of 20.71, with best figures of 7/71. He has taken nine four-wicket hauls and 11 five-wicket hauls in the competition.
In 2019-21 and 2021-23 cycles, Ashwin ended up as the leading wicket-taker with 71 wickets in 14 matches and the fourth-highest wicket-taker with 61 scalps in 13 matches (with Lyon being at the top with 88 wickets in 20 matches) respectively. In the ongoing 2023-25 cycle of the competition, Ashwin is a chart-topper yet again currently, with 57 scalps in 12 matches.
Lyon on the other hand has taken 187 wickets in 43 wickets at an average of 26.70, with best figures of 8/64. He has taken 11 four-wicket hauls and 10 five-wicket hauls in the championship's history.
Ashwin also overtook Lyon (530 wickets in 129 matches) in the all-time Test cricket list to become the format's seventh-highest wicket-taker, with 531 scalps in 104 matches at an average of 23.75, with best figures of 7/59. He has taken 25 four-wicket hauls and 37 five-wicket hauls in his career.
During the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting in Australia on November 22 at Perth, these two legends will duel for spin bowling supremacy, most likely for the last time on Australian soil.
Coming to the match, half-centuries from Devon Conway (76 in 141 balls, with 11 fours) and Rachin Ravindra (65 in 105 balls, with five fours and a six), took NZ to 201/5 at the end of the second session. Ashwin has so far taken three wickets while Washington Sundar has two.
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham won the toss and elected to bat first in the second Test of the three-match series against India on Thursday. Pacer Matt Henry misses action due to a niggle with spinner Mitchell Santner coming to the playing eleven.
For India, pacer Mohammed Siraj, batter KL Rahul and spinner Kuldeep Yadav sat out. Shubman Gill returns to the playing eleven after missing the first Test due to neck stiffness. Akash Deep took Siraj's place while Washington Sundar took Kuldeep's spot for his first Test appearance since March 2021.
This game is a must-win for Team India, as they are 1-0 down in the series. The Rohit Sharma-led team will have to win this game to keep their 12-year-long home supremacy alive and solidify their chances of making a hat-trick of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) finals as a tougher Australian challenge awaits them.
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke.