In cricket, there will always be a favourite opposition for a player, be it a batter or bowler. They will have an extra bit of liking for a single opponent, whether it is scoring truckloads of runs or picking chunks of wickets in a game.
One reason could be the familiarity of the players with the opposition and knowing their strengths & weaknesses, having played against them a lot. Also, this is possible only because of the longevity of their respective careers.
A player with a relatively long career will get to play against a single opponent more than otherwise. As far as Indian cricketers are concerned, they tend to play more versus Australia or England more often than say New Zealand or South Africa in Tests, historically.
This automatically reflects on their career graph, and here let’s see the most number of wickets taken by an Indian bowler against a single opponent in Tests.
Most Test Wickets Against an Opponent for India
| Player | Innings | Wickets | Opposition | Average | 5W/10W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ravi Ashwin | 43 | 115 | Australia | 28.58 | 7/1 |
| Ravi Ashwin | 45 | 114 | England | 27.72 | 8/1 |
| Anil Kumble | 38 | 111 | Australia | 30.32 | 10/2 |
| Kapil Dev | 45 | 99 | Pakistan | 30.12 | 7/1 |
| Bhagwath Chandrasekhar | 38 | 95 | England | 27.27 | 8/0 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 35 | 95 | Australia | 29.95 | 7/3 |
| Anil Kumble | 36 | 92 | England | 30.59 | 4/1 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 32 | 89 | Australia | 19.29 | 5/1 |
| Kapil Dev | 41 | 89 | West Indies | 24.89 | 4/1 |
| Bishen Singh Bedi | 36 | 85 | England | 29.87 | 4/0 |
Key Insights
Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling average of 19.29 against Australia is the second-lowest for a bowler with 85 or more wickets. Only Bobby Peel (101 scalps) of England has a better average (16.98) against the formidable Aussies.
Ravi Ashwin has taken 100 or more wickets against both Australia and England. He is the only Indian bowler to take more than 100 wickets against 2 sides. While Anil Kumble has done this against Australia, he just about missed against England, as he ended with 92 wickets.
Legendary skipper Kapil Dev could have been on this elite list had he taken 1 more wicket against arch-rivals Pakistan, but he did take 50+ plus wickets against 3 other sides. Apart from Pakistan, Kapil took 50 or more wickets against the West Indies (89), England (85), and Australia (79).
Also Read | Top 10: Indian Bowlers with Most Test Wickets against England
Overall, there are 40 instances of an Indian bowler taking 50 or more Test scalps against an opponent.
Ravi Ashwin has 50 or more wickets against 6 sides. The West Indies (75), New Zealand (66), Sri Lanka (62), and South Africa (57) are the other 4 opponents. (Check out Ashwin’s in-depth Test bowling stats here.)
It is only bettered by Kumble, who has 50+ wickets against 7 different oppositions — New Zealand (50), the West Indies and Sri Lanka (74 each), Pakistan (81), and South Africa (84).
Former skipper Bishen Singh Bedi also has 4 opponents against whom he has picked more than 50 wickets — England (85), the West Indies (62), New Zealand (57), and Australia (56).
The same is the case of Harbhajan Singh, who has 95 against Australia, 60 against South Africa, 56 against the West Indies, and 53 against Sri Lanka.
