With the help of Virat Kohli, Ashwin could have broken the world record but missed by so many wickets.
Virat Kohli and R Ashwin
With the Gabba Test being drawn, an era came to an end in Indian cricket. With the conclusion of the third Test match against Australia, India’s legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said goodbye to international cricket. Ashwin took one wicket while being a part of the playing-11 in the Adelaide Test but he did not get a chance in the playing-11 of the Gabba Test. After this, his chances of playing in the remaining matches were less. In such a situation, Ashwin surprised everyone by taking a big decision of leaving Team India. Ashwin was seen playing continuously only in Test cricket for Team India for the last several years. Although from time to time he was given a chance in the limited over format team but he could not impress.
Ravichandran Ashwin achieved many achievements in his career. Ashwin made his debut in Test cricket in November 2011. He took 9 wickets in this match and won the Player of the Match award. Ashwin had achieved the feat of taking five wickets (five wickets for 156 runs) in his first innings in Test cricket. The very next year, in August 2012, Ashwin achieved the feat of taking 10 or more wickets in a Test match for the first time. Ashwin took 537 wickets in 200 innings of 106 test matches for India.
Ashwin missed the world record
Although Ashwin did wonders with the ball while playing under many captains, his best phase came under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. Under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, he took a total of 293 wickets in 94 innings. In this way, he became the second highest wicket taker in Tests while playing under the same captain. If Kohli had remained the captain for a few more days, Ashwin would have made the world record of taking the most wickets while playing under a captain in Tests.
Bowlers who have taken the most wickets under the same captain in Test cricket
- 347 – Dale Steyn (131 innings) under the captaincy of Graeme Smith.
- 293 – R Ashwin under Virat Kohli (94 innings)
- 280 – Makhaya Ntini (130 innings) under the captaincy of Graeme Smith.
- 231 – Craig McDermott (98 innings) under the captaincy of Allan Border.
