Indian star spinner Ravi Ashwin has now surpassed legendary leg spinner Anil Kumble as he increased his tally with a wicket in the 2nd Test against Bangladesh.
Ravi Ashwin picked the wicket of Bangladeshi skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto after the batter was caught right in front of the wicket as the umpire raised his finger to give him out LBW. This was Ashwin’s 420th wicket on Asian soil.
With this wicket, he went past Anil Kumble, who had 419 wickets, India’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. However, now Ashwin is India’s leading wicketkeeper in Asian countries. Kumble, however, was known for his ability to make a significant impact also in the SENA countries.
Now, only Muttiah Muralitharan is above Ashwin with the highest wickets on Asian soil. He leads the list with 612 wickets. Also, the likes of legendary spinners Rangana Herath and Harbhajan Singh lie on this elite list with 354 and 300 wickets, respectively.
Bad Light interrupts as play is hampered in the 2nd Test in Kanpur
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked the Bangladeshis to bat in the first inning at the Green Park International Stadium in Kanpur.
The Indians came off a dominating win in the first Test in Chennai, on the back of Ashwin, Pant, and Gill’s tons and the stunning presence of bowlers on the field. India thrashed the visitors by a mammoth 280 runs.
In the second Test, Bangladesh faced early trouble as both Bumrah and Siraj took command of India’s new ball attack; they built pressure on the batters with consecutive maidens. It was then Akash Deep who, in his first over of the opening spell, removed opener Zakir Hasan for a duck.
He came back strongly after Mominul Haque and Sadman Islam began the rebuilding act. He broke the partnership with the wicket of Shadman. The spin maestro, Ravi Ashwin got rid of the Bangladesh skipper, who, from 74/2 at lunch, took the team’s total to 100.
The bad light caused the game to be called off early as Bangladesh ended the day 1 with 107/3 at stumps, with Mominul at 40* alongside veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim at 6*. Bangladesh, after their initial defeat, would look to bounce back with the proceedings of the second Test.
