Most Test Wickets By Spinners

Aakash Saini

Most Test wickets by spinners [Source: AP Photos]Most Test wickets by spinners [Source: AP Photos]

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Test cricket is often regarded as the ultimate measure of a player’s worth, demanding skill and endurance across grueling battles of attrition. For spinners, mastering this format requires a blend of deception, control, and lots of perseverance, as they toil on unforgiving surfaces to outfox batters.

Over the format’s near 150-year-old history, a legion of spin masters have thrived across conditions to dictate passages of play by amassing skillful wickets. Here, we take a look at five of the most successful spin bowlers, in terms of wickets, who have taken field in the cricket’s longest and purest format.

5. Ravichandran Ashwin – 537 wickets

Ravichandran Ashwin collected 537 Test wickets in 200 innings spanning 106 matches during his 13-year journey with Indian cricket. While Ashwin claimed 383 of those wickets on spin-friendly Indian pitches, the legendary off-spinner was equally frugal away from home, picking up 154 wickets in just 41 overseas Tests, including 40 from just 11 appearances on hostile Australian surfaces.

Picking up 37 five-fers in the process, the 38-year-old retired with the second highest five-wicket haul count (joint highest). Among all nine bowlers with more than 500 wickets to their names, no other cricketer holds a better bowling strike rate than Ashwin’s 50.73. Moreover, the Indian workhorse also held an impressive bowling average of just 24.

4. Nathan Lyon – 551 wickets and counting

Nathan Lyon, Australia’s greatest off-spinner by a landslide, picked up the 550th wicket of his Test career at the Galle International Stadium against Sri Lanka in February 2025. Lyon is the only active cricketer among all bowlers with more than 500 Test wickets to his name, and the 38-year-old looks well on course to add a few more feathers to his illustrious hat.

The 136-Test veteran has taken 268 of those wickets in Australia and 59 in swinging English conditions. With an impressive bowling average of 30.22 and a strike rate of 61.7, Lyon has carved his own niche among Australia’s elite during his expansive 14-year Test journey.

3. Anil Kumble – 619 wickets

One of only five bowlers with more than 600 wickets in his credit to date, and one of only three spinners to do so, former Indian captain Anil Kumble had 619 wickets in his tally by the time he brought down curtains to his illustrious 18-year career. A veteran of 132 Tests and 271 ODIs, Kumble continues to remain India’s most successful bowler in both formats, and was Test cricket’s third most successful cricketer when he silently stepped away from the game.

Nonetheless, the Karnataka-born is still ranked among the ‘Big Three’ of spin, picking up wickets with an astonishing average of 29.65. The cricketer racked up 35 five-wicket hauls in the process, and another eight 10-fers for the match.

2. Shane Warne

Australian great Shane Warne became the first cricketer in the world to scale 700 Test wickets, doing so in his farewell series against England at home. Hauling 708 wickets in just 273 innings from 145 Tests overall, Warne maintained a bowling average of 25.41 and a strike rate of 57.49.

Countries like Australia and England, often considered to be haunting grounds for spinners, incidentally hosted 448 of his wickets. He also made the most out of the turning pitches from the subcontinent with 127 wickets in 25 Tests in Asia.

1. Muttiah Muralitharan

Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan racked up wickets like no other, claiming 800 of them in just 230 innings from 133 Tests. The first and only cricketer in history to scale the 800-wicket threshold, Muralitharan often ran through even the biggest of opposition’s batting line-ups, irrespective of the format or playing conditions on offer.

With a collection that rich and expansive, his bowling average of 22.72 continues to remain one of the best in the business. He also picked up the highest number of five-fers (67) and ten-wicket hauls (22) than any other in the history of the sport. Muralitharan’s penchant of extracting sharp turn and bounce even fetched him wickets in heap in SENA nations, where he collectively accounted 125 wickets in just 23 Tests.