Ravichandran Ashwin became just the 14th Indian to play 100 Test matches when he walked out for his side in the fifth and final Test against England at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.
He was facilitated by head coach Rahul Dravid in Dharamsala with the whole team and Ashwin's family there to celebrate the special moment with him.
Ashwin joined an elite list of Indians to play 100 Tests, following in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar (200), Rahul Dravid (163), VVS Laxman (134), Anil Kumble (132), Kapil Dev (131), Sunil Gavaskar (125), Dilip Vengsarkar (116), Sourav Ganguly (113), Virat Kohli (113), Ishant Sharma (105), Harbhajan Singh (103) and Cheteshwar Pujara (103).
Ashwin has claimed 507 wickets in 99 Tests, 156 wickets in 116 ODIs, and 72 wickets in 65 T20Is. In Tests, he averages 23.91 with the ball, while claiming 35 five-wicket hauls and eight 10-wicket hauls.
Ashwin made his Test debut in 2011 and has since been a staple in the Indian Test side, especially at home. He went past Kumble to become India’s leading wicket-taker in home Tests, while also breaching the 350-wicket mark in Tests at home in the ongoing Test series.
Ashwin went past the 500-wicket mark in Test cricket in Rajkot, becoming just the second Indian after Kumble to achieve the feat. He became just the ninth bowler to pick 500 wickets in Test cricket, following in the footsteps of greats like Muthiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Kumble, Glenn McGrath, Courtney Walsh and Nathan Lyon.
Ashwin also became the first Indian to complete the double of 100 wickets and 1000-plus runs against England in Test cricket. He became the fourth player to achieve this feat, following in the footsteps of Gary Sobers, Monty Noble and George Giffen.
The off-spinner picked up a brilliant five-wicket haul in the Ranchi Test to power India to the win and seal the series 3-1. This was the off-spinner's 35th five-wicket haul in his career, which helped him go level with Kumble for most five-fers for India in Tests.
Along with Ashwin, England’s Jonny Bairstow will also be playing his 100th Test match for England, becoming the 17th Englishman to achieve the feat. Prior to the Dharamsala Test, Bairstow has scored 5,974 runs at an average of 36.42 while hitting 132 centuries and 26 fifties.
