India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin can get past legendary Kapil Dev as he stands on the cusp of another interesting feat. When India take on South Africa, he will be just eight shy of Kapil Dev’s 431 wicket tally who is the second-highest wicket-taker for India at the moment. If he go past him, he will just be dwarfed by Anil Kumble (619) in the list of all-time highest wicket-taker. It was only recently that Ashwin went past Harbhajan Singh in this list against New Zealand after he dismissed Tom Latham. At present, the 35-year-old Ashwin has 427 Test wickets under his belt in 81 matches including 30 fifers and seven 10-wicket hauls.
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“Absolutely nothing at all. These are milestones that are constantly kept on the tab, it’s wonderful. Ever since Rahul Bhai has taken over, he’s kept saying how many wickets you take, how many runs you make in 10 years, you won’t remember them,” Ashwin had said.
“It’s the memories that matter so I want to have some special memories going forward in the next 3-4 years.”
Among the active Test wicket-takers, Ashwin is currently third on the list just after England’s James Anderson (632) and Stuart Broad (524). Ashwin has also proved his batting prowess in whites, scoring 2755 runs which include 11 half-centuries and five hundred. Meanwhile, he is just nine wickets away from completing 300 Test wickets under Virat Kohli. He also has a four-wicket haul in Centurion where the pacers dominate the proceedings. Notably, there have been just two four-wicket hauls by spinners at the venue since 2016, and the landmark has been achieved by two Asians — Ashwin and Wanindu Hasaranga.
Meanwhile, he can go past Harbhajan once again. With 53 wickets, he is fourth-best Indian bowler against South Africa. He needs eight more to surpass Harbhajan, who has 60 scalps to his name. Anil Kumble (84 wickets) and Javagal Srinath (64 wickets) are the top two Indian names on the list.
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