agencies
NEW DELHI, Feb 17: "Every day they reach a milestone - Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had aptly put into words, speaking on the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, after the team's colossal win in Nagpur against Australia last week. The pair had scripted a plethora of records with India's win, and on Friday, Day 1 of the second Test in New Delhi, Jadeja and Ashwin both managed spectacular feats. While Jadeja joined the likes of Kapil Dev and Ian Botham with his massive feat as an all-rounder, Ashwin scripted a record with his three-wicket haul.
Rohit had refrained from introducing Ashwin until late into the opening session when he removed two dangerous batters in Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in just one over with the later going for a two-ball duck. He later returned to remove Alex Carey for a duck as well in the second session
With the dismissal, he reached the milestone of 100 wickets against Australia. Only legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble has managed to picked more wickets in the rivalry contest between India and Australia, having scalped 111 wickets in 20 Test matches. The two remain the only bowler to have reached the three-figure mark in this rivalry with Australia's Nathan Lyon standing next on the list with 95 wickets.
Overall, 32 bowlers have picked 100 wickets against an opposition with seven bowlers having managed that feat against more than one oppositions. Ashwin's 100th wicket against Australia came in his 20th Test against them which includes six five-wicket hauls and one ten-fer.
13 of those bowlers are spinners and Ashwin is the sixth bowler of this variety to pick 100 wickets against Australia, joing the likes of Kumble, LR Gibbs of West Indies (103), R Peel (101), W Rhodes (109), and DL Underwood (105) of England. |
