NEW DELHI: India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday became the third Indian bowler to claim 700 wickets in international cricket. Ashwin achieved the feat against West Indies on Day 1 of the first Test in Dominica.
Wreaking havoc on the opening day of the Test, Ashwin picked up a fifer to take his wickets' tally past the 700-mark in international cricket. The other two bowlers on the list are legendary spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.
Former India head coach, Kumble is on top of the chart with 956 international wickets.
Off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh, is on the second spot with 711 wickets in international cricket.
1/10:1st Test: India on top against West Indies on Day 1
PTI
2/10:Ravichandran Ashwin
<p>Ravichandran Ashwin's five-wicket haul highlighted a dominant day for India who reached 80/0 at stumps after bundling out the West Indies for 150 on Day 1 of 1st Test in Dominica.</p>AP
3/10:Five-wicket haul
<p>Ashwin snared 5-60 off 24.3 overs to leave home captain Kraigg Brathwaite regretting the decision to bat first on winning the toss. </p>AFP
4/10:Alick Athanaze
<p>Ashwin got excellent support from Ravindra Jadeja (3-26) with the only resistance of note coming from debutant batsman Alick Athanaze (47). </p>AFP
5/10:Ashwin
<p>Ashwin was brought into action after just 40 minutes' play with India's opening bowlers appearing frustrated on a pitch offering very little assistance. </p>AP
6/10:Abysmal batting
<p>Ashwin bowled Tagenarine Chanderpaul and then forced Brathwaite into an ugly miscue which effectively set the tone for an abysmal batting effort by the home side. </p>AFP
7/10:Athanaze falls
<p>Athanaze fell just short of the half-century mark, an attempted pull off Ashwin presenting a simple skied catch to Shardul Thakur at mid-on. </p>AP
8/10:Athanaze and Holder
<p>Athanaze added 41 for the sixth wicket with Jason Holder before Mohammed Siraj induced the former captain into a pull for Thakur to take the catch at deep square-leg. </p>AFP
9/10:Shardul Thakur
<p>Shardul Thakur also had his share of success with the ball in the morning, disposing of Raymon Reifer via a low catch to Ishan Kishan. </p>AP
10/10:Opening stand
<p>Yashasvi Jaiswal (40*) then joined Rohit Sharma (30*) in an unbroken opening stand against a varied bowling attack which hardly threatened. </p>AFPAshwin will have the opportunity to move past Harbhajan in this two-match Test series. Ashwin's five-wicket haul was also his third Test five-for against the West Indies.
Alzarri Joseph became Ashwin's 700th wicket as the impatient batter tried to clear the boundary but in his eagerness to clear the boundary he failed to read the carom ball. His shot only resulted in a thick edge which was taken comfortably by Jaydev Undakat. Joseph departed for a score of 4(11).
India bundled out for a score of 150 runs in the third session of the opening day. Spinners dominated most of the proceedings with Ashwin and Jadeja combining together to bag 8 wickets in total.
West Indies struggled throughout the day as they lost four wickets each in the first two sessions. They will be looking to bounce back with the ball in the final session of the first day.
(With inputs from ANI)
