: When he dismissed Nick Compton on Friday evening, R. Ashwin became the fastest Indian to take 50 Test wickets, in terms of matches played.
This was the 26-year-old off-spinner’s ninth Test. The previous record holder was the legendary Anil Kumble, who had reached the milestone in his tenth Test.
The five next quickest to the mark are also spinners — Narendra Hirwani and Harbhajan Singh (11 Tests), and Subhash Gupte, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and Erapalli Prasanna (12 Tests).
The overall record is just six Tests — Australian bowler Charles Turner set the record back in 1888. South African seamer Vernon Philander threatened that earlier this year before reaching 50 in his seventh Test.
There’s another — Englishman Tom Richardson (1896) — on seven Tests and four bowlers tied on eight Tests. Ashwin shares his mark of nine Tests with ten others.
Fastest Indians to 50 wickets
R. Ashwin (9 Tests)
A. Kumble (10)
N. Hirwani, Harbhajan Singh (11)
S. Gupte, B.S. Chandrasekhar, E.A.S. Prasanna (12)
