Test cricket can test one’s ability. There are only very few who come out as successful Test cricketers.
Picking five wickets in a Test innings or ten wickets in a Test match comes in the same category of a challenging task.
Anil Kumble came out with 10 in a Test innings! That’s rare! Three times in 140 years rare!
Muttiah Muralitharan has added 800 Test wickets to his name and tops the lists of both the most 5-wicket hauls & most 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket.
Below is the top 10 bowlers with most 5-wicket-hauls in Test cricket.
Most 5 Wickets in Test Cricket
| PLAYERS | 5 WICKETS | MATCHES | INNINGS | WICKETS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 67 | 133 | 230 | 800 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 37 | 106 | 200 | 537 |
| Shane Warne (AUS) | 37 | 145 | 273 | 708 |
| Richard Hadlee (NZ) | 36 | 86 | 150 | 431 |
| Anil Kumble (IND) | 35 | 132 | 236 | 619 |
| Rangana Herath (SL) | 34 | 93 | 170 | 433 |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 32 | 188 | 350 | 704 |
| Glenn McGrath (AUS) | 29 | 124 | 243 | 563 |
| Ian Botham (AUS) | 27 | 102 | 168 | 383 |
| Dale Steyn (SA) | 26 | 93 | 171 | 439 |
You can find the Indian list of bowlers with the same milestones here.
Stats Insights
Muttiah Muralitharan holds the record for the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket – 67.
One can see the complete sway of spinners in the list. Four of the top-5 places go to the spinners.
The 3rd ranked player, Richard Hadlee, a New Zealand All-rounder, is the leading fast bowler to pick most 5-fers in a Test innings – 36. And he was the 1st player to pick 400 Test wickets in International cricket.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the one bowler marching steadily to the top. But with him retired at the 37 years of age, he ended up with numbers less than that of the Sri Lankan legend. However, Ashwin numbers in international cricket is nothing short of the word “staggering”.
As of 2024, 169 players have taken 5-wicket hauls in an innings in their debut Test match, the latest being Shamar Joseph of West Indies against Australia.
Nine debutants have taken 5-wickets in both innings of a Test match. Fred Martin of England was the 1st, and Sri Lanka’s Prabath Jayasuriya was the latest to do so.
