Watch: R Ashwin scalps his 450th Test wicket dismissing Alex Carey, becomes the second-fastest to reach the milestone

Ravichandran Ashwin (Source: Twitter)

Star Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the second-fastest bowler to scalp 450 wickets in Test Cricket as he dismissed Alex Carey on Day 1 of the first Test between India and Australia. Ashwin achieved the coveted feat in his 89th Test appearance, only behind Muttiah Muralitharan (80 Tests). He also became the fastest Indian player to reach this landmark, leaving behind Anil Kumble (93 Tests).

Carey was trying all sorts of shots as he was involved in a 53-run stand with Peter Handscomb who together took Australia’s total past 150. He tried to reverse-sweep Ashwin but only managed to get an under edge with the ball rolling onto the stumps and ending his stay at the crease. The wicketkeeper batter departed after scoring 36 off 33 balls with the help of seven boundaries.

Watch the dismissal here:

Pamulu pattevadu pamu katuke pothadu annattu Alex Carey gadu reverse sweep lo dorkindu 😂#INDvsAUS#BGT2023 #Ashwin pic.twitter.com/WHFfoFcUul

— Filmaholic (@filmaholic_) February 9, 2023

Coming back to the match, Australian captain Pat Cummins won the crucial toss and elected to bat first. India handed the debut caps to Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat while Todd Murphy was debuting for Australia.

The Indian seamers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj came out all guns blazing and gave two early blows to the Aussies dismissing openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja respectively. Khawaja was trapped in front of the stumps by Siraj while Shami dismantled Warner’s stumps on the first ball of his second over.

Australia bundled out for 177 in the first innings

After the early blows, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith added 82 runs for the third wicket and stabilized the innings. Ravindra Jadeja broke the dangerous partnership by picking two wickets in one over.

He first dismissed Labuschagne on 49 and then Matt Renshaw for a golden duck. The left-arm spinner further picked the ‘all-important’ scalp of Steve Smith on 37 to leave Australia at 109/5 after 42 overs. Alex Carey and Peter Handscomb added 53 runs for the sixth wicket to get Australia past 150.

They were eventually bundled out for 177 in 63.5 overs as Ravindra Jadeja 5/47 while Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 3/42. In reply, India were 38/0 after 11 overs with Rohit Sharma on 32* and KL Rahul on 5*.