Team India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin crossed another significant milestone on day 4 of the 2nd Test against the West Indies in Trinidad. The veteran cricketer dismissed Kirk Mckenzie to pick his 712th international scalp and become the second-highest all-format wicket-taker for India, surpassing Harbhajan Singh's tally of 711 at top-level cricket.
The incident occurred in the 20th over of West Indies' second innings as Ashwin pinned Mckenzie leg before the wicket and was adjudged out by the on-field umpire. While the West Indian batter wanted to review initially, he decided against it. Ball tracking later showed that the ball hit the middle stump as the 22-year-old missed a straight ball.
With 712 scalps, Ashwin stands second only to Anil Kumble, who has 956 victims for India. As far as Test cricket goes, the 36-year-old has 489 scalps and is some distance away from Kumble's 619 victims in the format. In ODIs and T20Is, Ashwin has 151 and 72 wickets, respectively.
India on top after setting setting the West Indies 365 to win:
Meanwhile, the tourists undoubtedly hold the upper hand in the 2nd Test of the series as Kraigg Brathwaite and co. face a steep chase of 365. Although they reached 76-2 at Stumps on day 4, 289 more runs is indeed a long way.
Rohit Sharma and co. bowled the West Indies out for 255 on day 4 and took a 183-run lead before playing aggressively, keeping the weather forecast in mind. The skipper scored a 35-ball half-century before falling and promoted Ishan Kishan, who smashed his maiden fifty in Test cricket.
India declared at 181-2 before Ravichandran Ashwin struck twice.
