IND vs ENG: Ravichandran Ashwin Becomes India's Highest Wicket-taker Against England In Tests

India's ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin registered a historic feat in the ongoing second Test against England in Visakhapatnam on Monday. Ashwin became the highest wicket-taker for the home side against England in Tests as he surpassed legendary spinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar in the tally.

With the wicket of Ollie Pope (23) in the opening session on the fourth day, Ashwin picked his 96th Test dismissal against England to overtake Bhagwath's 95-wicket tally.

Ashwin was two wickets short of etching his name in the record books before the start of the match. In the first innings, he went wicketless while his maiden scalp in the match came in the final session of the third day when he sent opener Ben Duckett (28) back to the pavilion.

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In the fourth innings, England are chasing 399 to take their lead 2-0 in the five-match Test series.

India were in a comfortable position at lunch with England reeling at 194-6. Ben Stokes (0) was at the crease during the break with England still needing 205 to win.

On expected lines, England did not hold back in attacking the Indian spinners who hung in there to get the timely breakthroughs. The visitors still managed to make 127 runs in the session but lost too many wickets.

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Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Crawley (73) while Jasprit Bumrah trapped Jonny Bairstow (26) in front at the stroke of lunch to deal a massive blow to England, who still need 205 runs for an improbable win.

Crawley was by far the best batter on show, mixing caution and aggression perfectly before being adjudged lbw off Kuldeep with a close DRS call.

On the sixth ball of his first over, Kuldeep got one to turn back in from middle stump. It seemed the ball was going down leg but DRS showed that it was hitting the middle of the leg-stump.
Ben Stokes, who had not faced a ball, was left stranded at the break.

India's standout bowler in the game, Bumrah, bowled his heart out in the two-hour session. For someone who has been operating in four-over spells, Bumrah bowled one extra in his opening burst before returning towards the end of the session to send back Bairstow.

The variable bounce is coming into play but the pitch remains decent for batting.

While Crawley was measured in his approach, the likes of Root and Pope perished while going for their strokes. Root, in particular, would be disappointed with his effort as he danced down the track and went for a wild slog without getting to the pitch of the ball to be caught at short third man, giving Ashwin his 499th wicket.

While Axar Patel found Rehan's pads with a straighter one, Pope offered a sharp catch to Rohit Sharma at first slip off Ashwin and the Indian skipper made no mistake in pouching it.

(With PTI inputs)