Best Bowling Figures by Captains in Test Cricket

This article highlights the most exceptional and record-breaking bowling performances by captains in Test cricket.

Best Bowling Figures by Captains in Tests

Key Insights on Top Bowling Performances by Skippers in Test Cricket

Best Bowling Figures in an Innings by a Test Captain

Kapil Dev has recorded the best bowling figures as a captain in a Test innings, taking nine wickets for 83 runs against the West Indies in the third innings of the 1983 Ahmedabad Test.

This performance by Dev is overall the fourth-best bowling figure by a fast bowler in a Test innings.

Dev’s 9 for 83 are also the best bowling figures by a captain in a Test loss, as India suffered a 138-run defeat against the Caribbean side.

Kapil Dev is also the only Test captain to fetch two 8+ wickets in Test innings twice. He picked 8-for-106 against Australia at Adelaide in 1985.

Imran Khan’s 8 for 60 against India in the 1982 Karachi Test are the best bowling figures by a captain in a Test victory.

Rangana Herath has the best bowling figures as a skipper in an away Test, returning with 8 for 63 against Zimbabwe in the fourth innings of the 2016 Harare Test.

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Highest Match Wicket Hauls by Captains in Test Cricket

Courtney Walsh has picked up the best Test match haul as a captain, taking 7 for 37 and 6 for 18 to have a combined match haul of 13 for 55 against New Zealand in the 1995 Wellington Test.

Waqar Younis (13/135 vs ZIM, 1993) and Rangana Herath (13/152 vs ZIM, 2016) are the other captains to take 13 wickets in a Test match.

Top Bowling Spells on Test Captaincy Debut

Waqar Younis’ 13 for 135 is the best match haul in the first match as a captain in Test cricket.

Imran Khan has the best bowling figures in an innings on his Test captaincy debut, with figures of 7 for 52 against England in the first innings of the 1982 Birmingham Test.

South Africa’s Neil Brand has picked up the best bowling figures as a captain while also debuting in Tests; he fetched 6 for 199 against New Zealand in the first innings of the 2024 Bay Oval Test.

Bangladesh’s Naimur Rahman (6/132 vs India, 2000) and England’s Aubrey Smith (5/19) are the other captains with fifers on their Test debuts.

Check: Most Test Wickets for Pakistan

Most Wickets and Economic Records by Test Skippers

The oldest captain to pick up a five-for is England’s Freddie Brown, who was 40 years and 69 days old when he returned with 5 for 49 against Australia in the 1951 Melbourne Test.

Imran Khan has taken the most wickets (187), most five-wicket hauls (12), and most ten-wicket hauls (4) as a captain in Tests over 71 innings (48 Tests).

Australia’s Greg Chappell has bowled the most economical spell as a captain in Tests (minimum 60 balls bowled), taking a wicket for five runs in 11 overs at an economy rate of 0.45 against England in the second innings of the 1979 Perth Test.

Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful has recorded the worst economy rate as a skipper in a Test innings, with an economy rate of 6.16 while conceding 74 runs for zero wickets in 12 overs against Sri Lanka in the 2007 Kandy Test.

Zimbabwe’s Graeme Cremer has bowled the most expensive bowling figures as a captain in Tests, conceding 187 runs while taking a wicket in 53 overs against New Zealand in the second innings of the 2016 Bulawayo Test.

Vinoo Mankad has delivered the most maidens as a captain in a Test innings, sending down 34 maidens out of 61 overs while taking one for 71 against Pakistan in the first innings of the 1955 Peshawar Test.

Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan is the youngest skipper to take a five-for in Tests, fetching five wickets for 55 runs against Bangladesh in the 2019 Chattogram Test at the age of 20 years and 350 days.

Check: Players with 4000 Runs & 350 Wickets in Test Cricket