Stats: Ravi Ashwin becomes the first spinner to take a wicket off the first ball of a Test innings in over 100 years

Indian off-spinner Ravi Ashwin gave the team an incredible start with the ball in the second innings of the first Test match against England being played at Chepauk. The Indian team were bowled out for 337 runs in the first innings in response to England’s mammoth total of 578 runs.

India conceded a big lead of 241 runs in the first innings, though England decided not to enforce the follow-on. India started with bowling Ravichandran from the very first over and he did not disappoint at all. Ashwin dismissed English opener Rory Burns for a golden duck who had earlier played a knock of 33 runs in the first innings. With this wicket on the very first ball, he created a new milestone in Test cricket. 

Ashwin became the third spinner to take a wicket off the very first ball of an innings. He is the first spinner to do so in over 100 years. 

Ashwin has taken more than 380 wickets in his Test career till now in 75 Test matches. This includes 27 five-wickets hauls and 7 ten-wicket hauls. He is on the track to complete 400 Test wickets. He holds the record for being the fastest bowler to take 300 Test wickets. Ashwin achieved this feat in the year 2017 in Nagpur Test against Sri Lanka.

At that time, he toppled Dennis Lillee from the list of players who had taken the least Test matches to complete 300 Test wickets.  Ashwin currently stands at a fourth spot among the Indian bowlers with the most wickets in Test cricket. He is the third-highest wicket-taker among Indian spinners in Test cricket behind Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Ashwin made his debut in Test cricket against West Indies in the year 2011. 

Earlier in the day, India continued with their score of 257/6, and the duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar took India’s score over 300. They added 80 runs for the seventh wicket. Sundar notched up the second half-century of his career following up his brilliant show in the debut Test at Brisbane against Australia.

Dominic Bess was the pick of the bowlers for England who took 4 wickets including important wickets of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Rishabh Pant. Among other bowlers, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, and Jack Leach took two wickets each for England.