R Ashwin became the second Indian bowler in cricket history to take 500 Test wickets. Ashwin picked up the wicket of Zak Crawley in the ongoing India vs England 3rd Test in Rajkot to create history. He is only behind Anil Kumble who has 619 wickets. Ashwin is only the third off-spinner to achieve the feat.

The 37-year-old Ashwin needed just one wicket for the feat and that came in the way of opener Crawley, who mistimed a sweep that landed in the safe hands of Rajat Patidar at short fine leg. Earlier in the day, India were earlier bowled out for 445 in their first innings.

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Ashwin: Second-fastest to 500 Test wickets

The only other off-spinners who have touched the 500 wickets mark are retired Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralidaran (800) and Australia's Nathan Lyon (517), who did it last year.

Overall, Ashwin is only the ninth bowler to take 500 wickets in the traditional format, scaling the landmark in his 97th Test.

Having made his Test debut in 2011, Ashwin has come a long way.

From medium pace to Spin Great

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The engineering graduate from Chennai started out as a top-order batter and tried his hand at medium pace bowling before settling for the role of an off-spinner, a decision that was forced by a back injury during his teenage years.

Following the Kumble and Harbhajan Singh era, Ashwin had big shoes to fill and he has done that with remarkable consistency.

In his first 16 Tests, Ashwin snared nine five-wicket hauls and became the fastest to the 300 wickets club.

Ashwin has also proved his worth in the shorter formats, having played 116 ODIS for his 156 wickets in the format. He has 72 wickets in 65 T20 International appearances.

(with PTI inputs)