Who can be the next bowler after Nathan Lyon to pick 500 wickets in test cricket?

Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon completed 500 test wickets in just 123 test matches.

Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has become the latest entrant in the list of bowlers with more than 500 test wickets. Nathan Lyon needed 4 wickets to complete this milestone ahead of the first test match against Pakistan in Perth and he ended up picking 5 wickets in the game and also became the eighth bowler to achieve a special milestone. Australia defeated Pakistan by a huge margin of 360 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match test series. 

Nathan Lyon has become third Australian bowler and also only the fourth spinner to complete 500 wickets. This milestone is not an easy job for any bowler as this requires sheer consistency and longevity in a career. Nathan Lyon has been a prolific wicket-taker for Australia. Lyon’s 243 test wickets in 63 test matches on Australian soil is a testimony to how he has managed to reach a big stature in international cricket. 

Ravi Ashwin just 11 wickets away from completing 500

After James Anderson and Stuart Broad, Nathan Lyon has managed to achieve this feat. When we think about who could be the next bowler to breach the 500 mark, only one name comes into consideration – Ravichandran Ashwin. Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is just 11 wickets away from this special milestone and he will have two test matches against South Africa and 5 test matches at home against England to breach the 500 barrier in his career. 

Apart from Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, no one looks closer who could go on to complete 500 wickets in test cricket. New Zealand pacer Tim Southee stands second after Ashwin in the current lot of active players. Southee is way behind with only 374 wickets. Southee is currently 35 years old and he is left with only one or two years as a pace bowler in red-ball cricket. 

Kagiso Rabada’s chances!

If anyone apart from the likes of Southee, Starc, and Boult has a real chance of getting to the 500-wicket mark in test cricket, it is South African pacer Kagiso Rabada. He is 28 years old currently and with his sheer consistency in the red-ball format has taken 280 wickets in just 60 matches. Rabada, if continues in the same rhythm and maintains his consistency without any further injuries, might become another bowler to breach the 500-wicket mark in the longest format of the game.

T20 cricket has been on the rise as every single board has started its own franchise-based league. With several windows taken for various leagues around the world, the frequency of test and ODI cricket has gone down. This is also making an impact on players’ longevity and not enough opportunities to aim for a big record. Muttiah Muralitharan’s 800-mark also looks unachievable as nobody can think of getting closer to that mark in tests.

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