Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon brace up for 'battle royale' in Australia

NEW DELHI: More than 100 Tests and over 500 wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin has fought hard to deliver and drive himself past those milestones to sit among India's leading bowlers. And the veteran off-spinner is far from done, despite being 38 and in the twilight of his career.
Ashwin is once again proving to be the thoroughbred to beat in the home straight of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC). India's last stretch of 10 Tests to conclude this WTC cycle began with the two-match home series against Bangladesh, which Ashwin bossed with 11 wickets, including a six-wicket spell.
In two WTC cycles since the tournament's inception by the International Cricket Council in 2019, Ashwin has topped the bowling charts once (2019-21) and has pushed Pat Cummins to second place in the current cycle (2023-25) with his haul of wickets against Bangladesh.
Interestingly, the bowler on top of the 2021-23 WTC wicket-taker's list was Ashwin's contemporary off-spinning legend, Australia's Nathan Lyon. The duo, in fact, are the only two spinners to feature among the top five wicket-takers in two of the three WTC cycles.

The two greats of the modern era will face off in the five-Test series Down Under for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. But before that, Ashwin has business to do with New Zealand at home in three Tests beginning on Wednesday.
The collective numbers from the three WTC cycles also paint an interesting picture, with Lyon, Ashwin and Cummins occupying the top three spots, respectively. However, where Ashwin is ahead of everyone else is in the number of five-wicket hauls (11), average (20.36) and strike rate (44.2).
Top wicket-takers in WTC (2019-2024)

Ashwin is just three wickets away from surpassing Lyon's 187 wickets in WTC, and the three Tests against the Kiwis on spinning home tracks offer him a chance to extend the gap with Lyon by some distance before heading to Australia.
Here's the cycle-wise progression of Ashwin since the start of WTC in 2019.
Top wicket-takers in WTC 2019-2021

Top wicket-takers in WTC 2021-2023

Top wicket-takers in the WTC 2023-2025 (in progress)

Ashwin is also on the verge of overtaking Lyon in career Test wickets. In 129 Tests, Lyon has taken 530 wickets, while the Indian legend's numbers currently stand at 527 wickets in 102 Tests.
Here's the comparison:

(All Stats Courtesy: Rajesh Kumar)