Ashwin on cusp of achieving massive career milestone in SA, set to surpass Kapil Dev & Harbhajan in elite lists

At present, the 35-year-old Ashwin has 427 Test wickets under his belt in 81 matches including 30 fifers and seven 10-wicket hauls.

Ravichandran Ashwin is on the cusp of adding another feather to his already illustrious Test hat. The senior India off-spinner will be seen in action when India square off against South Africa in the three-match Test series, starting December 26 with the Boxing Day Test and followed by matches in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

India's Ravichandran Ashwin  (ANI )

At present, the 35-year-old Ashwin has 427 Test wickets under his belt in 81 matches including 30 fifers and seven 10-wicket hauls, and he has a chance to go past legendary Kapil Dev in South Africa. The fastest Indian bowler to reach 400 Test wickets, Ashwin has a chance to become India's second-highest wicket-taker in the longest format of the sport.

Anil Kumble currently heads the list with 619 Test scalps, followed by Kapil Dev (434) and Ashwin (427). The Tamil Nadu spinner is just eight shy of climbing his way up in the record books. Kapil played 131 Test matches for India and bagged 23 five-wicket hauls to finish with 434 scalps.

Overall, Ashwin is also on the verge of surpassing Sir Richard Hadley (431 wickets) and Rangana Herath (433 wickets). He can also overtake Dale Steyn in the all-time Test wicket-takers list if he picks up 12 wickets across the three Tests in South Africa.

Last month against New Zealand, Ashwin moved past Harbhajan Singh to become India's third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. He moved level with Harbhajan when he took the wicket of New Zealand opener Will Young towards the end of Day 4 in the Kanpur Test. The lanky off-spinner then removed Tom Latham to get his 418th Test wicket. He also jumped past Pakistan's fast bowling great Wasim Akram (414).

Ashwin now has a chance to surpass Harbhajan again. With 53 plucks, Ashwin is currently fourth among Indian bowlers with most Test wickets against South Africa. He needs eight more to surpass Harbhajan, who has 60 to his name. Anil Kumble (84 wickets) and Javagal Srinath (64 wickets) are the top two Indian names on the list.

After surpassing Harbhajan on the list, Ashwin had weighed in on creating memories instead of keeping a tab on personal milestones and records. “Absolutely nothing at all. These are milestones that are constantly kept on the tab, it’s wonderful. Ever since Rahul Bhai has taken over, he’s kept saying how many wickets you take, how many runs you make in 10 years, you won’t remember them,” Ashwin had said.

“It’s the memories that matter so I want to have some special memories going forward in the next 3-4 years."

Among active Test cricketers, Ashwin is currently the third-highest wicket-taker after England's fast bowling duo of Stuart Broad (524) and James Anderson (632). Ashwin has also proved his batting prowess in whites, scoring 2755 runs which include 11 half-centuries and five hundred.

Ashwin, who needs nine more wickets to complete 300 Test wickets under Kohli's captaincy, has a four-wicket haul in Centurion where pacers dominate the proceedings. Notably, there have been just two four-wicket hauls by spinners at the venue since 2016, and the landmark has been achieved by two Asians -- Ashwin and Wanindu Hasaranga.