Ashwin joins elite company after 500th Test wicket

Ravichandran Ashwin joined elite company after he became the second-fastest to 500 wickets in the ongoing third Test against England on Friday.

Ashwin also went past legendary Indian spinner Anil Kumble to become the quickest Indian with 500 scalps.

Ashwin achieved the feat on the second day at the Saurashtra's Niranjan Shah Stadium after he provided the breakthrough for India and secured the wicket of Zak Crawley in the third session of the day.

Ashwin reached the milestone in his 98th Test, which takes him past Kumble, who needed 105 matches. Sri Lanka’s legend Muttiah Muralitharan tops the list with just 87 Tests.

Earlier, Ashwin (37) and debutant Dhruv Jurel (46) put on a stubborn eighth-wicket stand of 77 before England wrapped up the Indian innings in the second session on day two.

India lost two early wickets but Ashwin and Jurel batted with patience and occasional boundaries to tackle a persistent England attack which was rotated by skipper Ben Stokes in his landmark 100th Test.

Rehan Ahmed sent back Ashwin with his leg-spin in the afternoon and then got Jurel caught behind on a delivery that pitched and turned sharply.

Number 10 Bumrah hit a breezy 26 to frustrate England before Wood got him lbw to finish 4-114 after his three strikes on day one.

Fast bowler James Anderson struck first to get nightwatchman Kuldeep Yadav caught behind for four. Anderson moved to 696 Test wickets over 185 matches since his 2003 debut.

The 41-year-old seamer is poised to become only the third bowler in history to reach 700 wickets after Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and late Australian spin wizard Shane Warne (708).

Part-time spinner Joe Root had overnight centurion Ravindra Jadeja caught and bowled on 112 as the hosts lost two wickets in the first five overs of the day.

The five-Test series is level at 1-1 after England won the opener in Hyderabad and India bounced back in the second match.

— Additional input from AFP