R Ashwin's 100th Test: Journey of a man who never gave up reinventing | News - Business Standard - Rastra Vani

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For Ravichandran Ashwin, 100 Tests might just be a number as he substantiated by giving the examples of Indian greats Zaheer Khan and MS Dhoni, saying that they did not play 100 Tests, but that does not make them any lesser. However, if 100 were just a number it wouldn’t just have been 13 Indian cricketers before him who got to play for such a long time and more.

14th Indian to play 100 Tests

When Ashwin took the field on Thursday, March 7 against England in the fifth and final Test of the five-match series at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala, he would have to credit the fact that it was his art to reinvent himself through thick and thin that took him to the milestone.

Check India vs England 5th Test live cricket score and match updates here

Indian players who have played 100 Tests

Player	Span	Mat	Runs	HS	Ave	100	Wkts	BBI	Ave	5	Ct
SR Tendulkar	1989-2013	200	15921	248*	53.78	51	46	3/10	54.17	–	115
R Dravid	1996-2012	163	13265	270	52.63	36	1	1/18	39	–	209
VVS Laxman	1996-2012	134	8781	281	45.97	17	2	1/2	63	–	135
A Kumble	1990-2008	132	2506	110*	17.77	1	619	10/74	29.65	35	60
N Kapil Dev	1978-1994	131	5248	163	31.05	8	434	9/83	29.64	23	64
SM Gavaskar	1971-1987	125	10122	236*	51.12	34	1	1/34	206	–	108
DB Vengsarkar	1976-1992	116	6868	166	42.13	17	–	–	–	–	78
SC Ganguly	1996-2008	113	7212	239	42.17	16	32	3/28	52.53	–	71
V Kohli	2011-2024	113	8848	254*	49.15	29	–	–	–	–	111
I Sharma	2007-2021	105	785	57	8.26	–	311	7/74	32.4	11	23
Harbhajan Singh	1998-2015	103	2224	115	18.22	2	417	8/84	32.46	25	42
CA Pujara	2010-2023	103	7195	206*	43.6	19	–	–	–	–	66
V Sehwag	2001-2013	103	8503	319	49.43	23	40	5/104	47.35	1	90
R Ashwin	2011-2024	99	3309	124	26.47	5	507	7/59	23.91	35	33

Oldest Indian to feature in his 100th Test

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going is a saying. But Ashwin has shown it over the years that he means it. In the pre-match press conference, the Indian spinner said that whenever he was under pressure in his career, he tried to put five times more pressure on the opposition. It is with this grit and determination Ashwin managed to become the oldest Indian to reach the milestone of 100 Tests.

Ashwin would be 37 years and 172 days old when he would play the 100th Test. Before him, the record was with Sourav Ganguly who played his 100th Test when he was 35 years and 171 days old.

Most Player of the Series awards

The offie from Chennai is also heads and shoulders above every other Indian when it comes to winning Player of the Series awards. He won the Player of the Series award 1o times. He is only one behind Sri Lankan legend Muttaiah Muralitharan on the list of Most Player of the Series Awards in Tests by a Player.

Player	Span	Matches	Series	Awards
M Muralidaran (ICC/SL)	1992-2010	133	61	11
R Ashwin (IND)	2011-2024	99	41	10
JH Kallis (ICC/SA)	1995-2013	166	61	9
Imran Khan (PAK)	1971-1992	88	28	8
Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ)	1973-1990	86	33	8

Fastest Indian to take 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 Test wickets

It is no secret as to how Ashwin managed to get those 10 awards. He holds the record of being the fastest to every wicket milestone in Test cricket. From being the fastest to 50 wickets and being the fastest 500, Ashwin ticked all the boxes. He holds the record of being the fastest in the world to reach the milestone of 250, 300 and 350 wickets in Tests.

Milestone Wickets	Against	Match	Year
50	England	9	2011
100	West Indies	18	2013
150	South Africa	29	2015
200	New Zealand	37	2016
250	Bangladesh	45	2017
300	Sri Lanka	54	2017
350	South Africa	66	2019
400	England	77	2021
450	Australia	89	2023
500	England	98	2024

Most dismissals of left-handers

While being an off-spinner is an advantage to Ashwin for being extremely consistent against Left-handed batters. But to have 252, nearly half of all total 507 dismissals, clearly how he has perfected his craft.

James Anderson of England is the second-highest wicket-taker against the southpaws. He has 218 wickets of left-handed batters to his credit.

Best strike among bowlers with 500 or more wickets

As if reaching the milestone of 500 Test wickets was not enough for him, Ashwin shows it off by having the best strike rate among all bowlers to have ever taken 500 or more wickets in Test cricket.

Player	Span	Mat	Balls	Wkts	BBI	Ave	SR	Five-wicket hauls
M Muralidaran (ICC/SL)	1992-2010	133	44039	800	9/51	22.72	55.04	67
SK Warne (AUS)	1992-2007	145	40705	708	8/71	25.41	57.49	37
JM Anderson (ENG)	2003-2024	186	39781	698	7/42	26.51	56.99	32
A Kumble (IND)	1990-2008	132	40850	619	10/74	29.65	65.99	35
SCJ Broad (ENG)	2007-2023	167	33698	604	8/15	27.68	55.79	20
GD McGrath (AUS)	1993-2007	124	29248	563	8/24	21.64	51.95	29
NM Lyon (AUS)	2011-2024	128	32651	527	8/50	30.35	61.95	24
CA Walsh (WI)	1984-2001	132	30019	519	7/37	24.44	57.84	22
R Ashwin (IND)	2011-2024	99	26012	507	7/59	23.91	51.3	35