India offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin has claimed yet another Indian bowling record surpassing the legendary Anil Kumble. When Ashwin dismissed Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto on the opening day of the 2nd Test in Kanpur, he became the bowler with the second-most Test wickets – 420 – in Asia overtaking Kumble who took 419 of his 619 scalps in the continent.
The record for the most Test wickets on Asian pitches belongs to the legendary Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan with 612 wickets while his compatriot Rangana Herath is fourth on this list with 354 scalps. Another spin great Harbhajan Singh completes the top five with 300 wickets.
| Rank | Team | Player | Tests | Wickets |
| 1 | Sri Lanka | Muttiah Muralitharan | 97 | 612 |
| 2 | India | Ravichandran Ashwin* | 71 | 420 |
| 3 | India | Anil Kumble | 82 | 419 |
| 4 | Sri Lanka | Rangana Herath | 68 | 354 |
| 5 | India | Harbhajan Singh | 71 | 300 |
| 6 | India | Kapil Dev | 86 | 279 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | Chaminda Vaas | 74 | 236 |
| 8 | India | Ravindra Jadeja | 48 | 231 |
| 9 | Pakistan | Wasim Akram | 59 | 216 |
| 10 | Pakistan | Waqar Younis | 47 | 215 |
Most Test wickets in Asian pitches
Ashwin played the starring role in India’s 280-win over Bangladesh in thefirst Test in Chennai where he scored a century to bail India out of trouble in the first innings before taking a five-wicket haul.
Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been India’s prime spinners for a long time now. The two have consistently combined to leave visiting batters in India clueless, making them dance on their tunes which has seen their team remain unbeaten in 17 series at home.
Ashwin was picked as player-of-the-match for his performance in the Chennai Test and he had nothing but praise for his spin twin Jadeja.
“Sometimes, when you’re in the race along with your co-cricketers, you want to get ahead of one another, even inside a team. It’s like brothers growing in arms, right? And then you slowly start admiring one another,” Ashwin said.
“Now, that admiration has gone one step higher, knowing that I can never beat Jadeja. So, I’m comfortable in my skin, but totally inspired by what he’s done. Jadeja on the field is a fire. He’s a rocket on the field. So, all in all, I envy him. I’m jealous of him but totally admire him. I’ve learnt to admire him for the last 4-5 years, even more than I have in the past,” he added.
*Till Day 1 of 2nd Test between India and Bangladesh on September 27, 2024.
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