Ravichandran Ashwin surpasses Sir Richard Hadlee with an emphatic display at Wankhede

Day four of the second Test saw India razing the persistent visitors with an emphatic display from debutant Jayant Yadav as he chimed in with four wickets to mop up the Kiwi tail in no time.

However, in all the records that were penned in this remarkable Test match, especially with Ajaz Patel claiming all the ten wickets of the Indian batting lineup in the first innings and Mayank Agarwal belting out a fearless 150, another remarkable feat was racked up in silence.

India’s premium off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, added another feather to his cap as he surpassed the iconic Sir Richard Hadlee to become the highest wicket-taker in the history of India and New Zealand rivalry in Tests.

Before the contest started, Ashwin was standing at 58 wickets from 14 games while Hadlee had a staggering 65 to his name. After Ajaz Patel picked up all 10 of the Indian batting unit on the first two days, it was the turn for the Indian spinners to weave their magic.

Mohammed Siraj gave them the early breakthroughs as he breathed fire to rattle the determination of the openers with three early wickets. Ashwin was a bit late to the party but he seemed like a man possessed with the cherry in his hands. He claimed Henry Nicholls with the first ball of his opening spell. The ball was tossed outside the line of the off-stump and it angled back in with a deathly wobble that saw Nicholls lurching forward with a gaping hole between the bat and pad.

Ashwin was once again offering a few glances of temptations that saw Tom Blundell attempting a flick down the leg side only to be pouched by Pujara at leg slip. The same over saw Ashwin claim Tim Southee with some assistance from the surface. The ball kissed the gloves of Southee and bobbled up for Suryakumar Yadav to complete a diving effort to send the Kiwi fast bowler on a long walk back to the pavilion.

William Somerville who played the perfect night watchman in the second innings of the first Test tried his best to hang in the middle as he played 25 balls before getting out. Much to the surprise of everyone, he was still to score and, in an effort to break free whacked the ball straight to Mohammed Siraj at mid-off.

The Indian off-spinner had no intentions of stopping before he bested one of the most formidable names in the antiquity of world cricket, Sir Richard Hadlee.

The second innings saw him starting early with his exploits as he foxed Tom Latham with a beauty of a delivery after setting him up earlier in the over. This was a much-straighter delivery that ended up bundling into the pads which was later shown to be hitting middle and leg.

Ashwin’s second of the day was a persistent Will Young as he was left bamboozled by the extra bit of bounce on the delivery and the ball flicked off his bat and then the pads to be pouched by Suryakumar Yadav at first slip.

The next man to fall prey was an experienced Ross Taylor, trying to be daunting in his efforts. Misreading the flight of the delivery, he attempted an audacious slog sweep that sent the ball miles into the air and was comfortably caught by Cheteshwar Pujara. With the wicket of Ross Taylor, Ashwin equalled the long-withstanding record of Sir Richard Hadlee.

Henry Nicholls’s determined stand came to an end after he tried to break free with very little remaining for the Kiwis to contemplate upon. He pranced down the track, waved his bat frenetically and completely missed the line of the delivery as Saha completed the stumping giving another four-fer to Ashwin. Nicholls became Ashwin’s 66th victim, which also saw him going past Richard Hadlee’s record that the Blackcaps and the world will remember for a long time.