India have only 5 bowlers in the top 20 wicket-takers in Test cricket in 2022

Ravichandran Ashwin (Source: Twitter)

2021 was a remarkable year for the Indian team. If we keep aside the World Cup exit and the loss in the World Test Championship final, India achieved many great things. They registered monumental wins in Australia, England, and South Africa; All that in one calendar year. 

But opposite to that, this year was one to forget for the Indian team. India struggled to win the big white-ball events; They couldn't defend their Asia Cup title and failed to clinch their second T20 World Cup title. The Indian team also missed out on the golden opportunity to clinch the Test series in England after losing the Birmingham Test earlier this year.

It is safe to say the performance of the Indian team was substandard across three formats. If we just focus on their Test record this year, it started on a disappointing note in South Africa when India gave away the series despite winning the first test of the three-match series. As many expected, India clinched the home series against Sri Lanka in March. 

India's next Test assignment came against England in Birmingham. The tourists were leading the series 2-1 and were hopeful to land the final blow, but the dreams of the series win were shattered by England's Bazball theory. The ongoing Test tour of Bangladesh is India's last assignment in whites and India would be hoping to win the series and end the year on a high.

This year, India didn't play as many Test matches as they played last year. As a result, both the batters and bowlers got very few opportunities to top the batting/bowling charts. In total, India has played only 6 Tests this year thus far. 

Unsurprisingly, India's top wicket-taker in Tests this year has been Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah, who's not a part of the Indian team for the ongoing Bangladesh Tests, has taken 22 wickets at an average of 20.32. 

He stands at 17th position in the list of top 50 wicket-takers list in Test cricket. The other Indian bowlers in the top 50 are- Ravichandran Ashwin (35), Mohammed Shami (37), Shardul Thakur (41), and Ravindra Jadeja (46).

Notably, only five Indians are there in the top 50 wicket-takers list in Test cricket this year. You'll not find any Indian name in the top 10. One can come up with an argument that this is due to the number of matches India played in the red-ball format this year. 

But if that's the case, then there's Prabath Jayasuriya who has bagged 29 wickets in the first three Test matches of his career. Exceptions are always there and this sits well with the Sri Lankan left-arm spinner. He's the only exceptional case on the list. Stats can be very misleading at times and the list is a classic example of the same. 

On many occasions, the bowlers were unlucky not to take wickets. Hence, the numbers won't do justice to the immense effort put in by the bowlers in every game they played this year. 

Also Read: India have only 4 batters in the top 50 run-scorers in Test cricket in 2022