5 Test records Ravichandran Ashwin can break in the home leg

Most Test five-wicket hauls in a calendar year

Will this Murali record be broken this 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.