India kick off their home season which consists of 13 Tests with a series against New Zealand before playing England, Bangladesh and Australia at home. And unsurprisingly, all eyes are on Ravichandran Ashwin, who is coming off the back off a fantastic last 18 months with the ball in the longest format of the game.
With 13 home Tests and conditions that favour spin bowling, it is safe to say that the Indian off-spinner will have his sights set on a record or two during the next few months. But what are the records that he could realistically break or have a good shot at breaking.
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Here are 5 records Ravichandran Ashwin can break in the home leg:
Fastest Asian bowler to take 200 Test wickets
When Ravichandran Ashwin went to the series against West Indies, he knew that all he needed was 24 wickets in the four-match Test series to claim the world record for being the fastest to 200 Test wickets beating CV Grimmett's mark. While it was true that he had never taken a five-wicket haul outside Asia before the start of the series, he started it with a seven-wicket haul.
That meant he only needed 17 in the remaining three matches to the take the world record. However, a combination of good batting from the hosts and rain in the final Test meant that he was left stranded on 193 wickets having played 36 Tests, which is the same Tests as it took the Australian leggie to get to 200 scalps.
However, despite losing out on the world record, Ashwin still made history by picking up seven wickets in the first Test against New Zealand until day four. Not only will does he have 200 Test wickets but is also be the fastest Asian bowler to achieve that milestone beating Pakistan’s Waqar Younis’ mark of 38 Tests. He got there in 37 Tests, one fewer than the Pakistani pacer who also got the record against New Zealand, 21 years ago.
Indian bowler with most Test wickets in a calendar year
When Shane Warne was at the peak of his powers, like he was in 2005, there was simply no stopping him. One of the reasons why Australia stayed in the Ashes right till the end was thanks to his bowling and it is no surprise that he holds the record for most Test wickets in a calendar year with 96 wickets in 15 Tests.
Although the 50+ wickets in a calendar year has been achieved 90 times in Tests, including three times just last year, no one has managed to come close to the all-time record in a decade. Given Ashwin's best in a year was the 62 he managed last time around, it is unreasonable to expect him to break Warne's record in 2016, even if he has eight more Tests in the year.
But one record that he might be able to break is the Indian record for most Test wickets in a calendar year. The record is currently held by Kapil Dev for his 75 wickets in 18 Tests in 1983. Even if Ashwin plays every remaining Test for India in 2016, he will only have played 12 but with 17 wickets to his name already and eight matches on conditions that suit him, there is no reason why he can't beat Kapil's record.
After all, Ashwin did take 62 wickets in 9 matches last year and if he takes a similar amount of wickets in the remaining matches, he will easily take the record for the Indian bowler with most wickets in a calendar year.
Most Test five-wicket hauls in a calendar year
Although he played just nine Tests last year, Ashwin still managed to finish with 7 five-wicket hauls, which was only two shy of the world record of most five-wicket hauls in a calendar year that is jointly-held by a spinner and a fast bowler.
The record is currently held by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and West Indies' Malcolm Marshall who both picked up 9 five-wicket hauls in 2006 and 1984 respectively. And the Indian off-spinner already has two for the calendar year and still has eight more home Tests to go before the year ends.
While taking a five-wicket haul in every Test match for the rest of the year might sound like a difficult thing to achieve, the fact that he has picked up four five-wicket hauls in his last four home Tests and has eight such hauls in his last 10 Tests in India means that all he has to do is continue his impressive performances at home. And who knows, if he does, he will hold the all-time record for most five-wicket hauls in a calendar year and perhaps even come close to or break the record for most 10-wicket hauls in a calendar year, which is another record Muralitharan holds.
Most wickets in a Test series by an Indian bowler
The all-time record for most wickets in a series by a bowler in Tests stands at 49. Sydney Barnes holds the all-time record after his impressive performance against South Africa more than a century ago where he picked up 49 wickets in just four Tests. Given Tests no longer last longer than 5 matches and the last bowler to have taken more than 40 wickets in a series did so in 6 Tests, it is fair to say that record is safe for a very long time.
However, the record for the most wickets in a Test series by an Indian bowler is not as difficult to overtake as the world record. With 35 wickets in five Tests against England in the 1972/73 series in India, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar holds the Indian record and it is one that might be in doubt in the series against England later this year.
Having taken 31 wickets in the last home Test series against South Africa, which consisted of only four Tests with one being washed out thanks to rain, Ashwin will certainly fancy his chances of going one better this time around. And it remains to be seen if breaks a record that has stood for more than four decades.
Fastest to 250 Test wickets
If it wasn't for rain, it is fair to say that Ashwin would have already joined the 200-club by now and possibly even have the world record for fastest to that milestone. But, he doesn't and the next milestone record that he will have his eyes is the 250 mark.
The current record is held by Dennis Lillee, who picked got to the 250 wickets mark in 48 matches in 1981 against India. R Ashwin is already on 193 wickets from just 36 matches and only needs 57 wickets in the next 11 matches to claim the record outright. If there is one record that he will certainly break before the end of the home leg, it is this.
After all, he has 31 wickets in his last home Test series, which consisted of just four matches and picked up 62 wickets in just nine matches last year and he doesn't even have to take that many in the home leg, which is a lot longer to take this world record. So, when it comes to the question of being the fastest to 250 Test wickets, it is by how much Ashwin will break the record and not if, given the form that he is in.
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