Can Ravichandran Ashwin take 600 Test wickets?

I don't remember if Indian cricket has been blessed with a better 'thinking' cricketer like Ravichandran Ashwin, with the exception of MS Dhoni. No, I am not saying that after the ace off-spinner's latest exploits against the West Indies in the Dominica Test. Ashwin bagged 12 wickets in the first Test and wreaked havoc against the hapless and directionless Windies led by Kraig Brathwaite.

It was all too easy for Ashwin, who bamboozled literally every West Indies batsman who faced him in a Test match that lasted for less than three days. The 36-year-old spinner bagged five wickets in the first innings to go with seven in the second to script an easy innings victory for the tourists.

Ashwin, who before the start of the Test match had 474 Test scalps to his name, finished with 486 wickets at the end of the game. That's a massive jump, and Ashwin has well and truly propelled his chances of getting to 500 Test wickets sooner rather than later.

Most Test Wickets for India

• Anil Kumble: 619 wikckets from 132 Tests
• Ravichandran Ashwin: 486 wickets from 93 Tests
• Kapil Dev: 434 wickets from 131 Tests
• Harbhajan Singh: 417 wickets from 103 Tests

The real test for Ashwin, though, would be whether he can push himself towards 600 wickets in red-ball cricket. It is a milestone that has been achieved by only four bowlers in the past: Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, Australia's Shane Warne, India's Anil Kumble, and England's James Anderson.

(As we speak, England's Stuart Broad is on the verge of entering the 600-Test wicket club. Broad has 598 Test wickets from 165 matches going into the fourth Ashes Test 2023 against Australia in Manchester.)

Ashwin will definitely be in elite company if he manages to achieve the feat. By no means would it make a difference to his phenomenal stature as a match-winner bowler for India for over a decade now. However, in a country like India, where everyone is obsessed with numbers, taking 600 Test wickets would only cement his legacy further.

Challenges ahead for Ravichandran Ashwin

Now, let's think practically and see whether Ashwin can really achieve or scale Mount 600 in Tests.

What goes against Ashwin is that he might run out of time. The Chennai-born off-spinner will turn 37 in September, and though he has aged like fine wine in red-ball cricket for India, his body might not be able to handle the pressure of international cricket for an extended period of time.

How many Test matches does Ashwin require?

On average, Ashwin bags 5.22 wickets per Test. At present, he requires 114 wickets to scale Mount 600. Mathematically speaking, Ashwin requires another 21–22 Test matches to reach the milestone. In terms of years, this means that Ashwin will certainly have to play for at least 2–3 years to make it to 600 Test wickets. This sounds unreal at his age.

Another factor that might come into play is that India, unlike England or Australia, plays fewer Test matches both home and away. If one talks about 2023, India's next assignment after the second Test match against the West Indies at the Port of Spain comes in December 2023, against South Africa in Centurion.

After the South African safari, in which Ashwin is likely to be benched or left out of the playing XI, the ace off-spinner will be a sure-shot starter in the home Test series against England in January 2024. This will be Ashwin's maiden Test series on home soil since the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia in March 2023.

With Ravi Ashwin no longer a part of white-ball cricket plans for India anymore, this might come as a blessing in disguise for the tall off-spinner. The more Ashwin plays, the better his chances of getting closer to the record.

If Ashwin can play somewhere close to the number of Test matches Anil Kumble played (132), expect him to go past the 600 Test wickets record with ease. Will his body hold up for so long?

The most important question is whether Ravichandran Ashwin would be able to keep himself motivated for a couple of years to go out there, perform consistently, and win matches for India in Test cricket.

No matter what happens from here on, every wicket that Ravichandran Ashwin takes from here on should be celebrated like his last. The harsh truth is that Ashwin is on the last leg of his career. He has given innumerable amounts of joy to his fans, both with his craft on the field and with his brilliant sense of humor and knowledge of the game off it.

Ashwin is a modern-day legend and will remain so, whether he gets to Mount 600 in Test cricket or not. If he does, there will be millions of happy Ashwin fans around the world, and I will definitely be one of them.

Come on, Anna! Let's chase history together!

(The author is an expert in cricket and has worked as a sports writer for broadcast and multimedia platforms for nearly a decade.)