What is the relevance of a 200? For some of them it is just a number; ask a batsman what a 200 means to him? Imagine how Sir Donald Bradman would have felt reaching that magical three figure mark - the 200 on twelve occasions; the most by any batsman. Or picture a Kumar Sangakkara missing out on just one more 200 to join Bradman on that list. For all you know, the great left-handed Sri Lankan wouldn’t even feel missing out on a equalizer but would have sure cherished each time he unbuckled his helmet strap and raised his bat to the gallery reaching yet another 200. What does 200 mean to a bowler? Does it follow the same run of emotions of that of a batsman? Is it a different feeling altogether to rewind and realise it is the number of times he has had his name etched on a scorecard? And what if you are the second fastest in the world and the fastest Indian to reach that landmark? Harbhajan Singh took 46 Tests to get there, Anil Kumble took 47, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar took 48 and the great Kapil Dev took 50. Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 37 in just his 5th year in Test cricket. Ask him about this tremendous achievement and Ashwin replies,“ Initially when I first started playing cricket and had got into the Indian team, I had thought I am another Test player, I have played one Test and I can be proud of myself. Ever since I made my debut and got the Man of the match, I haven’t really looked back,” he told BCCI.TV. “There have been certain setbacks and challenges on the way but I think that is what Test cricket is made of so I am really happy I have gotten here. I didn’t want to embark upon this journey the way it has panned out but I am very happy for how it has come out.” But how did it feel to get to the magical 200? Did he know it was on the cards, after all one could trust Ashwin with numbers as he says, “To be very honest, I knew I was on 197 before the innings began but I didn’t realise it through what had happened today, it happened really fast. I was in the middle of a very good spell and I got some good batsmen out. I didn’t realise at all until it flashed on the screens and it showed 200th wicket. I knew the moment had happened,” continued Ashwin taking us through the run of emotions after wicket number 200. “Some of the guys were pulling my leg saying Anil (Kumble) Bhai would be ready with a camera in the dressing room and you need to show the ball to the dressing room. I picked up the ball and showed it, it was a very happy moment. Probably I will go back tonight and relish the moment a little bit more.” Relish he will; after all it had New Zealand’s best batsman written all over it. It was the second occasion of Ashwin picking up Williamson after he got him in the first innings with a ripper of an off-spinner. “He is a fine player and we all know he uses his feet and plays spin well. Around the globe among the Fab-Five of Test batting that are going around, he is one of the finest players of spin; mind you none of the others are bad either. Williamson is one of the players who plays late and silken in his touch. He is a good batsman to have and to have him as your 200th wicket, it is not bad at all. You can’t ask for a better 200th wicket than that of Kane Williamson.” 200 in 37 Tests, what next? “300 maybe?” he laughs. “The next step is the next Test match and more importantly tomorrow we will try and close the Test match out. They have built a good partnership - Mitchell Santner and Luke Ronchi. It is about breaking one wicket at a time and trying to move forward.” While Ashwin’s tremendous feat was the talk of the hour, the off-spinner had his fair share of praises for his spin partner Ravindra Jadeja who had wrecked the Kiwi line-up with a 5-wicket haul in the first innings. “He is someone who bowls there and thereabouts all the time and he gets wickets very innocuously. He beats the batsmen by very fine margins and gets the edges and LBWs and brings the three stumps into play more often than not. He is one of those bowlers who will be a really good foil for me especially because I am that kind of a batsman who will try and dismiss the batsman rather than looking to wait for a bad shot. That is just the way I am made and he is an ideal foil for me.”