Credits: BCCI
Indian ace-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin scripted history as India hosted New Zealand for the second match of the three-match Test series. Notably, India came on the back of a record-creating defeat as New Zealand defeated them by the margin of eight wickets. This was the first time in 36 years that India lost a Test game against the Black Caps at home. In the second match, India and the Kiwis locked horns on Thursday, October 24 at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
During the game, Ashwin picked three crucial wickets to give India a breakthrough after New Zealand opted to bat. As Ashwin scalped the wicket of Will Young in the morning session, he scripted history and surpassed Nathan Lyon to become the leading wicket-taker in the ICC World Test Championship. The Indian spinner dismissed Tom Latham for 15, Will Young for 18 and later Devon Conway for 76.
Ravichandran Ashwin becomes leading wicket-taker in the WTC Cycle with 188 wickets
During the game, Ashwin scalped the first three wickets to set a momentum for the hosts. With these dismissals, he recorded his 188 wickets in 39 WTC matches and surpassed Lyon who has 187 wickets from 43 matches. After Ashwin, the next Indian bowler on the list is Jasprit Bumrah, who is seventh on the list with 124 wickets in 30 matches. Apart from Ashwin and Lyon, other bowlers on the list are Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins on the third spot with 175 wickets in 42 games, Mitchell Starc with 147 wickets in 38 games on fourth spot and Stuart Broad on fifth spot with 134 wickets from 33 games.
Earlier during the toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said, “When you play a Test match like that, the first session didn't go our way. But we batted well in the second innings. We take a lot of positives from that and see how we can turn things around here. Always want to find ways to get back into the Test match when you're behind. That's what we did. Pitch is a little drier, yes. We do understand how important the first 10 overs are.”
