| Player | Matches | Innings | Wickets | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 42 | 69 | 210 | 31.66 |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 68 | 119 | 186 | 36.92 |
| Courtney Walsh (WI) | 43 | 76 | 186 | 25.09 |
| Stuart Broad (ENG) | 53 | 91 | 167 | 33.65 |
| Nathan Lyon (AUS) | 37 | 69 | 145 | 35.88 |
| Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) | 45 | 75 | 141 | 36.51 |
| Daniel Vettori (NZ) | 44 | 73 | 133 | 38.78 |
| Kapil Dev (IND) | 31 | 53 | 132 | 28.30 |
| Kemar Roach (WI) | 43 | 75 | 131 | 30.67 |
| Taijul Islam (BAN) | 33 | 58 | 130 | 36.28 |
Explore the overall list-toppers of Test wickets tally here.
Key Insights
Muttiah Muralitharan has picked up the most wickets in losing causes in Test cricket. The former Sri Lankan spinner took 210 wickets in 42 Test losses for Sri Lanka.
James Anderson and Courtney Walsh have taken the joint-most Test wickets in losing causes among pacers. Both bowlers pocketed 186 scalps each for England and the West Indies, respectively. Find out the overall top wicket-takers among pacers in Test cricket here.
Over 23 bowlers have grabbed 100 or more wickets in losing causes in the Test format.
Charles Turner, the fastest bowler to 50 Test wickets, has the best bowling average in lost Test matches (minimum 50 wickets). He picked up 61 scalps in 11 Tests (18 innings) at an average of 18.16 for Australia.
Roston Chase, Shahadat Hossain, and Moeen Ali are the three bowlers with a 50-plus average in losing causes.
Mitchell Starc and Chris Cairns have sub-50 strike rates in losing Test matches (minimum 50 wickets). Garry Sobers, on the other hand, has the worst strike rate of 114. Lance Gibbs (111.6) is the other bowler with a 100-plus strike rate in lost Tests.
Muralitharan has also bagged the most five-wicket hauls in lost Test matches. He had 15 five-fors to go along with his tally. Richard Hadlee (11), Shakib Al Hasan (11), and Kapil Dev (10) are the other bowlers with 10 or more five-fors in losing causes. Find out how many they have picked in whole of their careers here.
Wasim Akram’s 3 ten-wicket hauls are the most for a bowler in losing causes in Tests.
Ajaz Patel’s 10 for 119 against India in 2021 is the best bowling figures (innings) in a Test loss. His 14 for 225 in the same Test is the best match haul in a losing cause.
Shakib Al Hasan is the only bowling captain with more than 50 Test wickets in losses. The former Bangladesh skipper picked up 51 scalps in 15 Tests (26 innings).
Bishan Singh Bedi and Kapil Dev are the only skippers to pick up a ten-wicket match haul each in a Test loss. Bedi has also grabbed 4 five-fors, the joint-most by a Test skipper along with Walsh.
Read: Indian Bowlers with Most 5 and 10-wicket hauls in Tests
