Target 300
Sports Illustrated India|November 2016

Ashwin Might Have Missed Out Being the Fastest to the 200-wicket Mark by a Whisker, but He Still Has the Time and Opportunity to Be the Quickest to Breach the 300-wicket Club.

Vimal Kumar
Target 300

Who does the opposition fear most while playing in India? I posed this question to V.V.S. Laxman and Kapil Dev just before the start of the Test series against New Zealand. Both of them replied simultaneously, and not surprisingly, “Ashwin.” The two former greats looked at each other and each paused to allow the other to elaborate.

“Ashwin wins matches single-handedly. He is a thinking cricketer who is always striving to improve and someone who has been doing the same thing to his craft as

“Ashwin is what Kohli has been doing to his batting,” said Laxman. constantly

“I am a huge fan of his remarkable ability to change the course of a game in just a looking to add session. He can pick up five wickets in five overs and can turn the game on its head,” to his repertoire, added Kapil. 

Ravichandran Ashwin could have easily equalled an 80-year-old record, which which is a great is held by Australian great Clarrie Grimmett. But the unsatisfactory condition of sign. It also the outfield in Trinidad in the fourth Test shows that he is against the West Indies robbed Ashwin of the golden opportunity to break the longstanding bowling record. India’s 500th Test keen to continue in Kanpur eventually witnessed Ashwin his evolution” becoming the second fastest bowler in the history of the game to take 200 Test wickets. However, Ashwin shouldn’t lose heart. He now has a very good opportunity to go past another legendary Australian bowler. Dennis Lillee has the distinction of getting 300 Test wickets in just 56 matches. This record remains unbroken since 1981. After the Kolkata Test against New Zealand, Ashwin has 207 wickets and he needs another 93 in the next 17 matches to break Lillee’s record.

This story is from the November 2016 edition of Sports Illustrated India.

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This story is from the November 2016 edition of Sports Illustrated India.

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