New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was his 200th victim in his 37th Test match, as he overtook compatriot Harbhajan Singh (46), but remained behind Australian Clarrie Grimmett (36).
In the process he also surpassed a few legends of the game such as Dennis Lillee (38), Waqar Younis (38) and Dale Steyn (39).
"I am happy trying to compete with myself. When I say that, I might sound cliched but I always say I constantly compete with myself. You go out and try and beat records. Trying to catch up with records, always teach you lessons. That is something Test cricket taught me pretty early in my career. I lost a good 12 to 18 months and that's good enough to teach me all the lessons," Ashwin said at a press conference.
"Definitely the 200th one is very special so far. Kane Williamson is not a bad scalp. There have been quite a few good wickets I had over a period of time. Kane Williamson getting out in this Test match in first innings was a very good ball. Sangakkara in Sri Lanka, these are some special memories I cherish in my career. I hope I create more and more in the future," he said.
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"It had to be that way. There are a lot of good memories I have created in the last 5-6 years in my career. To look back and feel sorry about a few things, is not the right way to go about my career. I am very happy," he said.
Ashwin refused to predict his future as far as cricketing achievements were concerned.
"The next target is that we have to win this Test match. Everybody talks about 13 matches in the season. For me, it's one match at a time. Try take a 1-0 lead and take it forward."
"The game is not finished as yet. We are not jumping to any conclusions. The fact is we have to take six more wickets. It's too early to call anything. We should have got them five or six down today, I am a bit disappointed with that," he said.