Stats: Ravichandran Ashwin fastest bowler to 250 Test wickets

India’s ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin continued his merry way and achieved another record of being the fastest bowler to 250 wickets in Test cricket. He got to the landmark when he picked the wicket of Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim in the first innings of the ongoing one-off Test against Bangladesh in Hyderabad.

He is now on top of the list that comprises of some of the absolute legends of the game. Ashwin reached the feat in his 45th Test beating the record of the former Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee who earlier held the pole position having dismissed 250 batsmen in 48 matches.

The 30-year-old has been in a tremendous form this home season and has been bagging heaps of wickets. He is currently ranked the number one bowler in Test cricket after a series of wonderful performances over the course of past 2 years. He played a vital role in India’s victories over Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand and England that helped the team to rise to the number one rank in Test cricket.

His total tally of wickets has now reached to 250 in 83 innings of 45 matches with an amazing average of 25.16. His strike rate is 51.61 which has taken a huge boost in the current home season as he ran through the opposition batting line-ups on a number of occasions. He already has a mammoth 24 five-wicket hauls and 7 10-wicket hauls in a match.

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The list of the top 10 bowlers fastest to 250 Test cricket interestingly includes 8 fast bowlers and Muttiah Muralitharan is at number 6 is the only spinner other than Ashwin. Rest of the names include some of the illustrious pacers of all time like Dale Steyn, Allan Donald, and Waqar Younis.

Here is the complete list of the bowlers fastest to 250 Test wickets:

Ashwin has plenty of years ahead of him in his international career and is looking good to break many more records. Next on his list must be to become the fastest to 300 Test wickets. Currently, Dennis Lillee is the quickest to that having got there in 56 matches and Ashwin has 10 Tests in hand to take 50 more wickets to displace Lillee from the top position of that list.

Team India is set to play 4 Test matches against Australia at home starting later this month and considering by the rate he is picking up wickets and Australia’s dismal performances against spin on their last tour to Sri Lanka, he might get close to 300 wickets at the end of this season itself.