Melbourne: As the cricketing world marvelled at and lauded Team India for an exceptional bounce-back victory in the Melbourne Test against Australia, 10 days after their disgraceful 36 all out in the series opener, a world record by one of India’s top performers went unnoticed.
When Ravichandran Ashwin clean bowled last man Josh Hazlewood in the Australian second innings, it happened to be the 192nd time that the off-spinner had got left-handers out.
He now stands top of the heap as far as bowlers dismissing left-handed batsmen is concerned. Sri Lankan legend Muthiah Muralitharan was the previous record-holder, with 191 victims, Hindustan Times reported.
Ashwin, who has been a major force in the potent Indian attack during the ongoing series with 10 scalps in two Tests, has bagged 375 wickets in 73 Tests so far. That means 51.2% of Ashwin’s tally of Test wickets is against left-handers – easily the best in terms of percentage of dismissals by any bowler.
TOP 5 TEST BOWLERS IN DISMISSING LEFT-HANDERS
R Ashwin (India) — 192 wkts (total 375)
M Muralitharan (Lanka) – 191 wkts (total 800)
James Anderson (England) — 186 wkts (total 600)
Glenn McGrath (Australia) – 172 wkts (total 563)
Shane Warne (Australia) — 172 wkts (total 708).
