Ishant Sharma to surpass Kapil Dev's bowling figures, close in on Anil Kumble's record

Indian pace bowler Ishant Sharma is on the verge of surpassing former World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev and become the second-highest wicket-taker for the national team outside India in Tests.

The 30-year-old Indian pace spearhead currently stands level with Kapil Dev in the list of most wickets taken by an Indian outside Asia.

Former Indian spinner Anil Kumble leads the chart with 200 wickets from the 50 matches he has played outside the continent while Sharma and Kapil are tied on second with 155 wickets each from the 45 matches they have played.

The 30-year-old fast bowler who made his debut in Tests against Bangladesh has played a major role in India's road to reclaiming the number one spot in Test cricket. He has picked up 275 wickets in the 91 Tests he has played and also has 115 wickets from 80 ODIs to his name.

The right-arm fast bowler has been in tremendous form against West Indies in the ongoing two-match Test series. India won the first Test by 318 runs and took a 1-0 lead in Antigua.

The 30-year-old bowler who stands 6'4" tall picked up his ninth five-wicket haul in the first innings of the Test. He also scalped another three wickets in the second innings helping India win.

In an interview with BCCI.TV he told fielding coach R Sridhar that the attempt was to bowl out the opposition as soon as possible and they successfully did it.

"The attempt was, if you bowl out the opposition as soon as possible, it is good for your team. We tried that we were able to do that," the 30-year-old told BCCI.TV.

Team India has been in scintillating form in the ongoing Caribbean tour. They completed a whitewash by defeating the hosts 3-0 and 2-0 in the T20 and ODI series respectively with stellar performances from skipper Virat Kohli.

They will face West Indies for the second and final Test at the Kingston cricket ground in Jamaica which will start from August 30.

The Test series is a part of ICC World Test Championship and India currently occupies the top spot in the points table.