Lagatar24 Desk
Bengaluru, March 14: On Day 3 of the pink-ball Test against Sri Lanka, Ravichandran Ashwin took his 440th wicket, moving him into the top eight all-time wicket-takers in Test cricket.
When he dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva in the first session, Ashwin passed renowned South African fast bowler Dale Steyn’s count of 439 wickets as Sri Lanka faced a crushing defeat.
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗔. 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛! 👌 👌
Excellent work from @Hanumavihari at the forward short-leg! 👏 👏
2⃣nd wicket for @ashwinravi99 as Dhananjaya de Silva departs! 👍 👍 #TeamIndia | #INDvSL | @Paytm
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/t74OLq7xoO pic.twitter.com/ygbBDKaUCD
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 14, 2022
Ashwin currently has the most wickets among bowlers in the 400-club, trailing only 79 wickets behind famous West Indies pacer Courtney Walsh, who finished with 519.
Before Tea on Day 3, Ashwin took two wickets in the first innings of the pink-ball Test and two more in the second innings. After a disappointing session in the first hour of the day, the off-spinner was weaving a web around the Sri Lanka hitters, altering his lengths and pace.
On Monday, Ashwin got India’s first wicket of the day when he took the key wicket of Kusal Mendis, who was aiming to relieve the strain on Sri Lankans with a quickfire fifty. Mendis was stumped when Ashwin got one to slide through.
Earlier, R Ashwin only got beyond great India all-rounder Kapil Dev’s 434 wickets in the first Test in Mohali.