Courtesy: BCCI
On February 8, 1994, Kapil Dev earned the milestone of bowler with most Test wickets (432nd) with Hashan Tilakaratne’s scalp in the first innings of the third Test played between India and Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad. The right-handed pacer surpassed former New Zealand speedster Richard Hadlee’s record of 431 wickets. After gaining an unassailable 2-0 lead, India were looking to whitewash their opponents. At the toss, Ranatunga emerged victorious and chose to bat first.
Anil Kumble delivered an early breakthrough in the form of opener Roshan Mahanama, who could score only 18 off with two fours. Following Mahanama’s departure, Tilakaratne got the responsibility to stabilise the innings. However, Kapil outclassed the-then 26-year-old with his experience and got the left-handed batter caught at the hands of Sanjay Manjrekar. On Ahmedabad’s turning track, Sri Lanka failed to tackle spin and got bundled out for a score of 119. Left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju bagged a fifer while Rajesh Chauhan also picked up a three-wicket haul.
India continued their dominance in the match while batting as well. Mohammad Azharuddin led the team from the front and went on to score a ton. His batting brilliance took India to a score of 358. Sri Lanka continued their horrendous performance in the second innings as this time, their struggle against the spin-duo of Raju and Chauhan continued. This time, they both grabbed nine wickets combined, with Raju claiming six wickets while Chauhan bagging three wickets again. Sri Lanka surrendered on 222 and India got an innings and 17-run win. Azharuddin became the recipient of the Player of the Match award for his stupendous batting.
Muttiah Muralitharan holds the feat of highest wicket-taker in the Test format
Currently, Sri Lanka former spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is the highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 800 scalps in 230 innings of 133 matches. Following him Australia’s late leg-spinner Shane Warne holds the second place with 708 wickets in 273 innings of 145 games. Talking about Kapil Dev, the former India captain is currently in the 11th spot with 434 scalps in 227 innings of 131 contests.
Back in March 2022, India’s off-break spinner Ravichandran Ashwin broke Kapil’s record by getting rid of Charith Asalanka in the Test match played between India and Sri Lanka in Mohali. In December 2004, Anil Kumble had left Kapil behind after removing Mohammad Rafique in Dhaka. Kumble concluded his Test career with 619 wickets in 236 innings of 132 games, while Ashwin brought curtains down to his 13-year Test career with 537 wickets in 200 innings of 106 matches.
