SYDNEY: Australia’s experienced spinner Nathan Lyon on Friday, surpassed India’s Ravichandran Ashwin to become the leading wicket-taker in the World Test Championship (WTC) history before being overtaken by compatriot Pat Cummins.
Lyon achieved the milestone in the 24th over of India’s innings during the first day of the final Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) when he got Shubman Gill caught at slip.
The dismissal increased Lyon’s WTC wickets’ tally to 196, one more than that of Ashwin, who recently called time on his illustrious career.
Later in the 66th over, Australian captain Cummins got Washington Sundar caught behind to draw level with Lyon.
The right-arm pacer then pulled ahead to become the leading wicket-taker of the WTC by dismissing his Indian counterpart Jasprit Bumrah in the 73rd over.
As a result, Cummins now has 197 wickets in 47 Tests with the help of nine five-wicket hauls, closely followed by Lyon with 196 in 48 matches, including 10 five-wicket hauls.
Meanwhile, Ashwin has been slipped to third with 195 wickets in 41 Tests, laced with 10 five-wicket hauls.
Earlier, in the Boxing Day Test of the ongoing BGT, Lyon also broke Ashwin’s record of 537 Test wickets to secure seventh place in the list of all-time wicket-takers in the longest format.
The 36-year-old claimed three wickets in the first innings and two in the second, playing a pivotal role in Australia’s 184-run victory in the aforementioned fixture.
For the unversed, the Rohit Sharma-less India were all out for 185 runs in their first innings on the opening day of the ongoing final Test.
In response, Australia could score 9/1 before the stumps were drawn.
- Nathan Lyon
- Pat Cummins