Ravichandran Ashwin withdraws from third Test against England

Ravichandran Ashwin claimed his 500th Test wicket during the third Test against England

Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates the wicket of England’s Zak Crawley, his 500th in Tests (Ajit Solanki/AP) (AP)

Ravichandran Ashwin has dropped out of the third Test against England due to a family emergency, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced.

The Indian spin bowler had claimed his 500^th wicket during day two of the third Test match against England at Rajkot, but is now not expected to play any further part in the match.

In terms of Test bowlers, Ashwin sits ninth on the list, between Nathan Lyon (517) and Dale Steyn (439), but his wickets have come at an impressive average of just 23.94. And crucially, only Muttiah Muralitharan reached the 500 milestone in fewer Test matches than the Indian spinner’s 98.

While Ben Duckett starred with the bat, scoring an 88-ball century, Ashwin had the better of his opening partner, Zak Crawley.

India's Ravichandran Ashwin bowls a delivery on the second day (AP)

Crawley was tempted into a sweep-shot but could only top-edge the ball to Rajat Patidar at short fine leg. That was Ashwin’s moment. In the second Test he thought he had claimed his 500^th scalp in the format, only for it to be overturned on review.

But it remains to be seen if the bowler will play any further part in the series.

India have already been hit with the absence of key players in the series. Virat Kohli initially ruled himself out of the first two Tests due to personal reasons, and this was later extended to include the entire tour.

KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja sustained injuries in the first Test while batting, which caused both of them to sit out the second, and KL Rahul also out of the third.

While England have been without Jack Leach since the first game at Hyderabad, when he sustained a knock to his knee, that did not heal in time and led to him being ruled out of the series.