"Extraordinary Milestone": PM Narendra Modi On Ravichandran Ashwin's 500 Wickets In Test Cricket

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday for the "extraordinary milestone" of taking 500 Test wickets. Ashwin became the second Indian bowler after Anil Kumble to take 500 Test wickets during the third Test against England in Rajkot on Friday. The Prime Minister said on X, "Congratulations to Ravichandran Ashwin on the extraordinary milestone of taking 500 Test wickets! His journey and accomplishments are testament to his skill and perseverance. My best wishes to him as he scales further peaks."

Congratulations to Ravichandran Ashwin on the extraordinary milestone of taking 500 Test wickets! His journey and accomplishments are testament to his skill and perseverance. My best wishes to him as he scales further peaks. @ashwinravi99

Ashwin also became only the third off-spinner to achieve the feat and continues to be the second highest wicket-taker for India behind Kumble, who ended his career with 619 scalps.

The 37-year-old reached the milestone on day two of the ongoing Test. He needed just one wicket for the feat and that came in the way of opener Zak Crawley, who mis-timed a sweep which landed in the safe hands of Rajat Patidar at short fine leg.

This was after India were earlier bowled out for 445 in their first innings.

The only other off-spinners who have touched the 500 wickets mark are retired Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralidaran (800) and Australia's Nathan Lyon (517), who did it last year.

Overall, Ashwin is only the ninth bowler to take 500 wickets in the traditional format, scaling the landmark in his 97th Test.

Having made his Test debut in 2011, Ashwin has come a long way.

The engineering graduate from Chennai started out as a top-order batter and tried his hand at medium pace