[Watch] Hanuma Vihari's brilliant diving catch gives Ravichandran Ashwin record 440th Test wicket

Snippets from Hanuma Vihari's catch on Monday.
Snippets from Hanuma Vihari's catch on Monday.

Hanuma Vihari is not only cementing his place in Team India as a solid batting option at No. 3 but also a reliable close-in fielder.

He was placed at forward-short-leg for Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling against Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva on Monday. The off-spinner looped the ball up and the batter indecisively dangled his bat away from the body.

The ball dipped, turned, and bounced to take the inside edge to the pad and then to the left of Vihari.

The right-handed fielder had ample time but the ball was flying to the wrong side of him. He threw himself towards it with both hands and stretched full-tilt to grab it in front of his face.

Here's a video of the same:

Dhananjaya de Silva went back for 4 (21). He never looked settled and lacked the proactiveness shown by Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne to reap success on the turning and unevenly-laid Bengaluru pitch.

It was also Ashwin's second wicket of the innings as he helped India reduce the visitors to 105-4 in their chase of 447. He had previously got Mendis out stumped with an endearing straighter one that slipped past the right-hander's bat.

Hanuma Vihari's catch helps Ravichandran Ashwin go past Dale Steyn

Dhananjaya de Silva was Ashwin's 440th Test victim. He's now the eighth-highest wicket-taker in the format's history, going past South African fast-bowling legend Dale Steyn's tally of 439 scalps. Steyn took 93 Tests for his tally while Ashwin has got there in just his 86th game.

Next in line for the 35-year-old is West Indies great Courtney Walsh with 512 wickets from 132 Tests. Sri Lanka's Muthiah Muralidaran tops the chart with 800 (133 Tests), followed by the legendary Shane Warne with 708 from 145 Tests.

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