Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin equals Harbhajan Singh’s record and becomes the third joint highest wicket taker in Test Cricket.
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Ravichandran Ashwin removed openers Will Young late on the day as he trapped the batsmen right in front of the stumps. The ball was missing the leg stump was Young was late to take the referral. So, he had to make his way to the pavilion.
Earlier, Ashwin picked up three wickets in the 1st innings of the game and played a crucial part in restriction NZ to 296.
With this wicket, Ravichandran Ashwin has now picked up 417 wickets in test cricket. He has equaled former Indian off spinner Harbhajan Singh’s record. Ashwin achieved this feat in 150 innings while it took Harbhajan 190 innings. The 35-year-old has picked up wickets at an average of 24.52 which is much better than Harbhajan Singh’s average which is 32.46.
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Only former leg spinner Anil Kumble and India’s legendary World Cup winning all-rounder Kapil Dev has more wickets than Ashwin for India in tests. Kumble has 619 wickets to his name while Kapil Dev has 434 wickets.
Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralitharan continues to be the leading wicket taker in test cricket with 800 dismissals.
Ashwin has surpassed likes of Wasim Akram (417) and Curtly Ambrose (405). His is not far behind from Shaun Pollock (421) and Dale Steyn’s (439) tally of wickets.
Team India have set up a target of 284 runs in front of the tourists. The visitors are currently at 4/1 after stumps on Day 4. Shreyas Iyer who scored a ton and a fifty on debut is confident of his team and feels that the spin combination of Team India is enough to restrict the Kiwis under 284 in Day 5.
A lot is expected from Axar Patel who took a fifer in the first innings and restricted the Kiwis to 296.
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