India vs West Indies: Ravichandran Ashwin goes past Anil Kumble, increases gap with Murali and Warne

The first Test between West Indies and India commenced in Dominica on Wednesday (July 12) and it didn’t take much time for the visitors to assert their domination. After losing the toss, India skittled the Caribbeans for just 150 runs in their first innings thanks to Ravichandran Ashwin who picked up his 33rd five-wicket haul in Tests. Apart from him, Ravindra Jadeja also shined picking up three wickets.

It goes without saying that Ashwin broke and created quite a few records on the opening day of the Test match. He also completed 700 wickets in his international career becoming the 10th player to do so in history and only the third Indian to cross the said mark. However, in another record he went past Anil Kumble as soon as he dismissed Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s son Tagenarine Chanderpaul.

It was a beautiful loopy off-break delivery from Ashwin that drew the batter forward. But the ball turned and disturbed the furniture of Chanderpaul as Ashwin picked his 95th bowled dismissal in Test cricket. With this wicket, the off-spinner went past Anil Kumble who had 94 bowled dismissals in his illustrious Test career.

After opting to bat first, West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Chanderpaul did well to blunt the new ball. It led to Ashwin being introduced into the attack in the ninth over of the innings itself. And the off-spinner struck in his third over only handing the visitors the first wicket of the innings. This was the whopping 53rd instance in the longest format of the game when Ashwin drew first blood in the innings. No other spinner in the history of Test cricket has picked up the first wicket of the innings more times than Ashwin.

Anil Kumble is at the second position in this aspect striking first in the innings 49 times while the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne are way behind the two Indian spinners. While Sri Lanka spinners Murali and Rangana Herath did it 43 and 34 times respectively, Shane Warne also picked up the first wicket of the innings for Australia on 34 occasions.