WATCH: Nathan Lyon congratulates Ravichandran Ashwin on reaching 500 Test vs England in Rajkot

Indian veteran bowler Ravichandran Ashwin became the 2nd Indian bowler to achieve 500 test wickets. The off-spinner got to this feat during the second day of the Rajkot Test vs England on Friday. 

Australian bowler Nathan Lyon took to social media and congratulated the veteran Indian bowler. Lyon said “Hey Ash! Just wanted to say am passing my congratulations on taking 500 Test wickets. It has been an incredible journey to watch, I have got nothing but respect for the way you have gone about”

Congratulation to @ashwinravi99 on achieving the 500 Test wicket milestone. Many more to come. 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/XANzv1Lcn7

— Nathan Lyon (@NathLyon421) February 16, 2024

Nathan Lyon himself reached the 500-wicket mark during the home series against Pakistan. The right-arm spinner from Australia enjoys healthy competition with fellow spin legend Ashwin. 

Ben Duckett’s century helps England end the day in control- 

India began the day by losing overnight batters Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja in a space of one over. Dhruv Jurel and Ravichandran Ashwin steadied the Indian ship as they went to lunch without further loss. 

The two batters added 77 runs for the 9th wicket before Ashwin was out for 37. Rehan Ahmed then got the wicket of Jurel who batted well to score 46 runs. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj added 30 runs for the final wicket before Bumrah was out for 26. 

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett added 89 runs for the first wicket in just 13.1 overs. While Crawley was sedate and select with his strokes, Duckett threw caution to the wind. The left-handed batter employed the sweep shots to good effect to put the bowlers under pressure.

The first ball of the 14th over saw Ashwin induce an edge of Crawley’s sweep shot as Rajat Patidar completed the catch. Ollie Pope then joined Duckett as the Indian bowlers found no answer to the run-scoring of the English batters. 

The second wicket stand was worth 93 which came at a very rapid pace. The hundred came when Duckett hit Siraj for a four and celebrated in style. With the Indian bowlers under pressure, Rohit Sharma decided to change tactics. 

The home team started to bowl short and this is what led to Ollie Pope losing his wicket. Mohammed Siraj got the ball to tail and Pope was out LBW for 39 as the DRS ruled in favour of India. At stumps, England were 207/2 still trailing by 238 runs with Duckett batting on 133 and Joe Root on 9.