Star Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reached a remarkable milestone on Friday, becoming the first Indian bowler to claim the most wickets in Test matches across Asia. This achievement came during the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur, where Ashwin dismissed Najmul Hossain Shanto for 31 runs in the 29th over. With this wicket, Ashwin raised his tally to 420 Test wickets in Asia, surpassing Anil Kumble’s previous record of 419. Harbhajan Singh follows in third place with 300 wickets in the region. Since making his Test debut against the West Indies in 2011, the 38-year-old has participated in 101 Test matches and taken a total of 522 wickets.
In the ongoing two-match Test series against Bangladesh, India secured a 1-0 lead after a commanding 280-run victory in Chennai. In the Kanpur Test, India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Bangladesh’s opening pair, Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam, struggled early on, with Indian pacer Akash Deep quickly taking two wickets to leave Bangladesh reeling.
Following these early setbacks, Mominul Haque and Najmul Hossain Shanto stabilized the innings, guiding Bangladesh to a score of 74/2 by the end of the first session. However, rain interrupted the second session, briefly halting play.
During this second session, Ashwin emerged as the only wicket-taker for India, striking again by dismissing the Bangladesh captain, giving India an advantage in the match. Unfortunately, rain disrupted the game further, resulting in only 35 overs being bowled on the first day. By stumps, Bangladesh was at 107/3, with Mominul Haque not out on 40 and Mushfiqur Rahim on 6.
The teams’ lineups were as follows: Bangladesh included Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das (wicketkeeper), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, and Khaled Ahmed. India’s lineup featured Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.
Overall, Ashwin’s record-breaking performance and India’s early dominance in the match set the stage for an exciting Test series.
