After becoming the fastest among Indian bowlers to reach 150 Test wickets, offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin is on the brink of another milestone.
Ashwin’s 12 for 98 in the third Test against South Africa in Nagpur earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, while taking his tally in the series to 24 with the Delhi Test left to play.
The offspinner’s 7 for 66 in the second innings at Nagpur is his career best and gave India a 124-run victory to take a 2-0 winning lead in the series. This ended South Africa’s 9-year unbeaten run in away Test series, besides earning the hosts their first series win over South Africa in a decade.
India’s premier spinner began the series by taking eight wickets in Mohali before adding four more in the only South African innings the damp second Test in Bengaluru allowed.
Now With 24 wickets in all, Ashwin is just five wickets away from his best in a four-Test series, which is 29 wickets in the 4-0 whitewash of Australia in the 2013 home series. It is also the most by an Indian in a four-Test series.
Considering the form he is in and the uncertainty in the mind of South African batsmen while facing Ashwin, it’s only safe to say that he is on his way to registering another record.