Ravi Ashwin's international cricket career in numbers

Ravi Ashwin took 357 test, 156 ODI and 72 T20I wickets for India.

Ravi Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket on December 18, 2024, during a press conference after the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 test in Brisbane, which ended in a draw.

Ravi Ashwin played in only one of the first three tests in the series. Rohit revealed that Ashwin had told him about his decision after the Perth test, where young Washington Sundar was preferred over the senior off-spinner.

In his retirement speech, Ashwin said, “I don’t want to make this about myself. This is my last day as an international cricketer. I have created a lot of memories. We are the last bunch of OGs in the dressing room.”

As we celebrate Ravi Ashwin’s brilliant international career here is how he stood numerically

537 wickets in 106 tests:

Ashwin retired as the seventh-highest wicket-taker in test cricket and second-highest wicket-taker in tests for India.

Ravi Ashwin made his test debut in 2011 against West Indies in Delhi and went on to become the most successful off-spinner in test history. He played 106 tests for India and took 537 wickets at an average of 24 with 37 fifers and eight ten-wicket match hauls.

Among Indian bowlers, he ends second only to Anil Kumble’s 619 wickets in tests while his 765 wickets across formats are again bettered only by Kumble’s 953.

Ashwin is the fastest to 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, and 500 wicket milestones for India in terms of matches played.

His 37 fifers are the joint second-most in the world, tied with the great Shane Warne. The list is led by Muttiah Muralitharan with 67 five-fors in 133 tests.

Ashwin dismissed a record 268 left-handers in test cricket. He has the second-best average of 19.84 amongst the 76 bowlers to have dismissed at least 50 southpaws in tests.

383 of Ashwin’s test wickets have come at home in India. This is the fourth-most for a bowler behind Muralitharan (493), James Anderson (438), and Stuart Board (398) in home conditions.

Ashwin took 133 wickets with the first new ball (first 20 overs of the innings), the most by a spinner in test cricket history. In this phase, he achieved an astonishing average of 21.50 and took a wicket every 45.4 balls. Nathan Lyon, the next-best spinner in this phase, has 73 wickets, which is slightly over half of Ashwin’s total.

Ashwin also has the record for the joint-most Player of the Series award in test cricket-11, tied with Muralitharan.

The off-spinner’s best year for India was 2016, when he won the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year and ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year awards for his 97 wickets and 659 runs in 31 matches that year.

156 wickets in 116 ODIs:

For a significant period of time, Ravi Ashwin was also a force with the white ball in ODIs. He made his debut in ODIs in 2010 against Sri Lanka in Harare. In his ODI career, Ashwin averaged 33.20 and his best bowling figures were 4/25. Unfortunately, Ashwin couldn’t take a fifer in ODI cricket in his career.

Ravi Ashwin was part of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad. He played two matches in the tournament and picked up four wickets in them. Ashwin played a key role for India in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and bowled a match-winning last over in the final. He snared eight wickets in competition with a best of 3/48 at an economy of 4.41.

72 wickets in 65 T20Is:

Ravi Ashwin made his T20I debut in 2010 against Zimbabwe in Harare. He finished his T20I career with 72 wickets in 65 T20Is at an economy of 6.90 and best bowling figures of 4/8.

Ashwin was the first Indian bowler to take 50 T20I wickets. He was part of the Indian team that played in the final of the 2014 T20 World Cup and the semi-final of the 2016 T20 World Cup. His last T20I for India came in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

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