IND vs AUS: R Ashwin becomes India’s third-highest wicket-taker across all forms

Ravichandran Ashwin surpassed World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev to become India’s third-highest wicket-taker in international cricket. After catching Alex Carey in front of the wickets for lbw, Ashwin eclipsed Kapil, who had 687 wickets in 448 innings for India, with his 688th scalp in his 347th innings.

On the second day of the third Test against Australia at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Thursday, Ashwin returned with a three-wicket haul to help India bowl out Australia for 197. With to Ashwin’s effort, which featured the wickets of Peter Handscomb, Carey, and Nathan Lyon, the hosts were able to reduce the visitors’ lead.

Ashwin now has 689 international wickets, passing Kapil Dev (687), to become India’s third-highest wicket-taker across all forms. Anil Kumble (953) and Harbhajan Singh are the top two scorers (707).

Most wickets for India across formats (innings):

953 (499) – Anil Kumble

707 (442) – Harbhajan Singh

688* (347) – Ravichandran Ashwin

687 (448) – Kapil Dev

597 (373) – Zaheer Khan

Ashwin has 466 wickets for an average of 23.93 in 171 Test innings, as well as 72 wickets in 65 T20 Internationals and 151 in ODIs. Anil Kumble leads the chart with 953 wickets in 499 innings across all formats, while Harbhajan Singh is second with 707 wickets in 442 innings.

India dismissed Australia for 197 in the third and penultimate Test and must overcome an 88-run deficit before setting a challenging target for Steve Smith’s team. India leads the four-match Test series 2-0 and needs another win to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, which will be contested on June 7 at The Oval in London.

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