Anil Kumble is India’s leading 5-wicket and 10-wicket haul bearer. Ravichandran Ashwin has been catching up close and is expected to take over the former Indian leg spinner. And the duo is only the two Indian players to make it to the overall top 10 list.
The champion bowlers mentioned in the below table have been the match-winners for the Indian side throughout their careers. One can also see the Indian bowlers’ history of hunting in two – Harbhajan and Kumble, Ashwin and Jadeja, Chandrasekhar and Bedi (you can also add the name of Erapalli Prasanna to this duo, so technically a trio), Zaheer and Ishant, and in the current days, Shami and Bumrah. You can also add Javagal Srinath’s name to the Bhajji-Kumble duo, as the trio had been India’s match winners during Mohammed Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy days.
It is also important to credit the fast bowlers on the list, as they have played most of their careers in spin-friendly conditions in India.
This article will list India’s top ten bowlers who have picked the most 5-wicket and 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket.
Most 5 & 10 Wickets Haul by an Indian Bowler
PLAYER | MATCHES | INNINGS | 5-WICKETS | 10-WICKETS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ravichandran Ashwin | 105 | 199 | 37 | 8 |
Anil Kumble | 132 | 236 | 35 | 8 |
Harbhajan Singh | 103 | 190 | 25 | 5 |
Kapil Dev | 131 | 227 | 23 | 2 |
Bhagwath Chandrasekhar | 58 | 97 | 16 | 2 |
Ravindra Jadeja | 77 | 146 | 15 | 3 |
Bishan Singh Bedi | 67 | 118 | 14 | 1 |
Subhash Gupte | 36 | 61 | 12 | 1 |
Zaheer Khan | 92 | 165 | 11 | 1 |
Ishant Sharma | 105 | 188 | 11 | 1 |
Key Stats
Important: Erapalli Prasanna and Javagal Srinath are the other two Indian bowlers who have picked ten five-wicket hauls in Tests, making 11th and 12th in the above list.
Also, four more Indian cricketers have two 10-wicket hauls, and we couldn’t add them to the list as they have fewer 5-fers: Maninder Singh, Vinoo Mankad, Irfan Pathan, and Erapalli Prasanna.
Away Tests: 10 of Kumble’s 35 5-wicket hauls came outside India, whereas Kapil Dev has 12 out of his overall 23, which makes him the most successful Indian bowler in overseas conditions. Ishant Sharma follows the top two with nine, and Jasprit Bumrah, the modern-day great, already has seven 5-wicket hauls outside India (Total-8), and he is only 29 now.
Ashwin, the fastest Indian to 450 Test wickets, has six 5-wicket hauls outside India, and you can find a detailed distribution and analysis of Ashwin’s Test wickets in this blog.
Apart from Bumrah, and the Ashwin-Jaddu duo, Mohammed Shami (6 5-fers) and Axar Patel (5 5-fers) are the potential participants in this list among the current lot of players.
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