Ravichandran Ashwin is certainly one of the best spinners of all the times and he proved this statement correct once again when he picked his 500th test wicket in the ongoing third test match which is being played between India and England at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot.
Ravichandran Ashwin was just one wicket away from touching the 500-mark at the start of this test match and he achieved this feat by dismissing Zak Crawley in England’s first innings. Ashwin is also one of those four bowlers who have secured the number one ranking in the ICC test rankings and before Jasprit Bumrah became the world’s number one test bowler, R Ashwin was at the top for 11 months.
As Ashwin touched the 500-wicket mark, the micro-blogging site X was flooded with reactions. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi also congratulated Ravichandran Ashwin on this huge achievement and wrote, “Congratulations to Ravichandran Ashwin on the extraordinary milestone of taking 500 Test wickets! His journey and accomplishments are testament to his skill and perseverance. My best wishes to him as he scales further peaks. @ashwinravi99”
Congratulations to Ravichandran Ashwin on the extraordinary milestone of taking 500 Test wickets! His journey and accomplishments are testament to his skill and perseverance. My best wishes to him as he scales further peaks. @ashwinravi99
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 16, 2024
Here are some other reactions:
From number 1⃣ to 5⃣0⃣0⃣!@ashwinravi99's momentous Test journey in 📸📸
Tell us your favourite one 👇#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/r5Fr3sPsGy
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2024
🇮🇳🐐 The journey of a legend!
📷 Getty • #RavichandranAshwin #INDvENG #INDvsENG #TeamIndia #BharatArmy #COTI🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/kFn9OnwVgp
— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) February 16, 2024
Anna 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4rlWu3A0zA
— Shivaye 🔱 (@shivaye01) February 16, 2024
Ash Anna 🤙 pic.twitter.com/e2l1R3CRXI
— Radhika Chaudhary (@Radhika8057) February 16, 2024
Fantastic achievement by #RavichandranAshwin 😎😎
2nd Indian to do so 🤗🤗
Anna Joins Jumbo in this elite list
Overtaking Kumble record is difficult still I guess he may end up with another 50-65 wickets in next 2 years
Genius on field😎#INDvENG#ENGvIND #Ashwin #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/sktQvaa2dd
— RAM ராபர்ட் रहीम (@itsme_rrr9438) February 16, 2024
1️⃣st 👉 5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th 📈
We love this sight. 🫶#RavichandranAshwin #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/fPF8VetBhZ
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 16, 2024
Ashwin is fastest Indian to achieve
500 wicket#INDvsENGTest #RavichandranAshwin pic.twitter.com/EonWKNy7eG— Hriday Singh (@hridaysingh16) February 16, 2024
https://twitter.com/CricAudit/status/1758426843823108566
Just 98 tests to reach 500 test wickets. Quicker than Kumble. Quicker than Warne.#RavichandranAshwin pic.twitter.com/pC62sqluRL
— Nikhil Naz (@NikhilNaz) February 16, 2024
What a legend Ravichandran Ashwin is !! Completes 500 test wickets 🔥
The fastest to complete: 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500 wickets for India in Tests !! Absolute mental stat this ❤️🔥 [#INDvsENGTest]#INDvsENG • #RavichandranAshwin
pic.twitter.com/TG7MfniwDO— ishaan (@ixxcric) February 17, 2024
Anil Kumble to Ashwin:
"You should be finishing around 625 or 630, not below that".
Anil Kumble ❤️#AnilKumble #RavichandranAshwin #Ashwin500 #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/CsMS1Dn3Nh
— Babu K (@Babu_K_08) February 16, 2024
500 Test Wickets!! Phew this is Legendary stuff! What a career, what a match winner. Many Congratulations #RavichandranAshwin #Ashwin pic.twitter.com/YcZF4Q7DAP
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) February 16, 2024
🤯 500 Test wickets, second only to the great Anil Kumble.
⏩ Quickest Indian to pick 500 Test wickets in 98 matches.
⏩ 9th bowler and 5th spinner overall to achieve this feat.🫡 Spin dominance at its finest. Kudos, Ravichandran Ashwin
📷 Getty • #RavichandranAshwin… pic.twitter.com/kvs1gl0TlJ
— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) February 16, 2024
Ashwin is the fastest to complete 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500 wickets for India in Tests.
– The GOAT 🐐#RavichandranAshwin #INDvsENGTest pic.twitter.com/Y60mPYEkdJ
— Babu K (@Babu_K_08) February 16, 2024
However, R Ashwin won’t be able to play in the remaining test match because of some family medical emergency and the Board of Control for Cricket in India shared this information on X as it tweeted, “R Ashwin withdraws from the 3rd India-England Test due to family emergency.In these challenging times, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the team fully supports Ashwin.”
R Ashwin withdraws from the 3rd India-England Test due to family emergency.
In these challenging times, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the team fully supports Ashwin.https://t.co/U2E19OfkGR
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2024
As far as the match is concerned, India posted a big total of 445 runs in its first innings with the help of brilliant knocks of Rohit Sharma (131 runs, 196 balls, 14 fours & 3 sixes), Ravindra Jadeja (112 runs, 225 balls, 9 fours & 2 sixes) and debutant Sarfaraz Khan (62 runs, 66 balls, 9 fours & 1 six).
Though England was going strong with Ben Duckett playing a beautiful knock of 153 runs (151 balls, 23 fours & 2 sixes), middle order and lower order fumbled badly after top order got out and the visitors could manage only 319 in their first innings.
In the second innings, India has scored 196/2 and has taken the lead of 322 runs by the end of the day 3. Yashasvi Jaiswal played a sensational knock of 104 runs (133 balls, 9 fours & 5 sixes) before getting retired hurt. At the end of the day, Shubman Gill (65 runs not out) and Kuldeep Yadav (3 runs not out) were at the crease.
The Indian team seems to be in a strong position as of now and it should certainly win this test match to take the lead by 2-1, what do you say?
