Ashwin to 200: five Tests quicker than Muralitharan

R Ashwin has taken fewer deliveries than any other spinner to take 200 Test wickets. That and more numbers on his landmark

37 Number of matches R Ashwin has taken to complete 200 wickets in Tests. He is the second-quickest bowler ever to the landmark after Australia's Clarrie Grimmett who took 36 Tests. Muttiah Muralitharan is the next quickest offspinner to 200 Test wickets, having taken 42 Tests.

9 Number of fewer Tests Ashwin has played to take 200 wickets than the previous quickest India bowler. Harbhajan Singh had taken 46 matches to reach the milestone.

10,291 Deliveries Ashwin has bowled so far in Tests - the least by any spinner at the end of the Test in which he took his 200th wicket. Stuart MacGill had finished with exactly 200 wickets in his 41st Test by the end of which he had sent down 10,511 deliveries - nearly 37 overs more than what Ashwin has bowled. Among India bowlers, Kapil Dev had bowled 11,066 balls - 129 overs more than Ashwin - by the end of the Test in which he took his 200th wicket.

9 Number of India bowlers to take at least200 wickets in Tests. Ashwin is the fifth spinner among them to the milestone. His average of 25.12 is currently the best among the 19 India bowlers who have taken at least 100 Test wickets.

20.58 Ashwin's bowling average in Tests in Asia - the second best among the 25 bowlers who have taken at least 100 wickets in Asia. Only Imran Khan's average of 20.28 is better - marginally - than Ashwin's. Ashwin has taken 159 wickets at a strike rate of 44.0, which too is the second best for any bowler with at least 100 wickets in Tests in Asia. Only Waqar Younis's strike rate of 38.20 is better than Ashwin's. Shane Warne is the next best spinner in terms of strike rate in Asia. He is a distant second with a wicket every 52.6 deliveries.

18.86 Ashwin's bowling average in Tests since 2015 -  for any bowler with at least 50 wickets during this period. His strike rate of 38.6 is only marginally lower than Mitchell Starc's, who, at 38.2, has struck most frequently among bowlers with at least 50 wickets during this period. Ashwin's strike rate while taking 62 wickets in Tests in 2015 was a staggering 36.4: there are only three other instances - all by fast bowlers - when a bowler has taken at least 50 Test wickets in a calendar year at a better strike rate.

51.40 Ashwin's strike rate - the best among 32 spinners to take 150 or more wickets in Tests. Among those with at least 100 wickets, only Johnny Briggs and Colin Blythe - who bowled on unprepared pitches around the turn of the 20th century - have struck more frequently.