Most Wickets In Tests By An Indian Bowling Pair

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have taken 503* wickets in India as pair in Tests [X.com]

Playing cricket in India has always been about batting, where bowlers have found it difficult to claim wickets on tracks that have on most occasions been batter-friendly, which leads to very few people aspiring to become the latter.

In Tests, the paradigm shifts, with bowlers, namely spinners coming into play during the course of the five-day match, where India has always had their advantage. However, over the years, fast bowlers, too, have gained prominence, utilising the art of reverse and conventional swing, highlighting the importance of pacers within Team India, who are crucial for overseas wins.

Unlike batting, where individual brilliance can help the team out of a rut, bowling is all about hunting in pairs and maintaining discipline and attack from both ends. For India, there have been several high bowling pairs, that have made opponents freight in Tests, which has helped the nation gain envious red-ball records. 

In this article, we at OneCricket list down the top five Indian bowling pairs to clinch the most wickets in Tests. 

Most Wickets In Tests by Indian Bowling Pairs

Ravichandran Ashwin/ Ravindra Jadeja - 503*

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have 50 Tests together [X.com]

The spinning duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja during the ongoing first Test against England, became the leading bowling pair for India to claim the most wickets in tandem i.e 502*. While Ashwin toys with batters with his finer tricks and every-sharp mind, Jadeja mainly focuses on bowling with near-perfect line and length, which sees them claim 502 wickets in 50 Tests, with 274 and 226 wickets, respectively. 

Anil Kumble/ Harbhajan Singh - 501

Carrying forward India's rich spin bowling legacy, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh joined the force in the early 2000s and ransacked opposition Test after Test. The variety that both Kumble as a leg-spinner and Singh as an off-spinner brought into the bowling created problems for the opposition to face leading the duo to pick up 501 wickets in 54 Tests together. Kumble claimed 281 wickets as compared to Singh's 220. 

Zaheer Khan/ Harbhajan Singh - 474

Post the retirement of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan took upon the mantle of spearheading India's pace attack, which the bowler did to perfection, along with ace spinner Harbhajan Singh. Khan claimed wickets upfront during the early part of his career and then became potent with the older ball as well during his second Test stint, which allowed Singh to trap web around the middle-order, and tail without much trouble. Together the pair claimed 474 wickets in 59 Test, where Khan claimed 206 and Singh attained 268.

Ravichandran Ashwin/ Umesh Yadav - 431

Ravichandran Ashwin continued his dominance post the era of Singh, and Khan, where Umesh Yadav gained traction. Yadav, who bowled with fierce pace, managed to create problems for batters with both swings, making the player a dangerous prospect during the course of a Test across conditions. Yadav, who played most of his Test with Ashwin, in 52 red-ball matches with the spinner picked up 153 wickets, with the duo contributing 431 wickets as a pair, while the latter claimed 278. 

Anil Kumble/ Javagal Srinath - 412

A bowler, who kept India's pace bowling relevant in the 1990s, Javagal Srinath formed a deadly pair with spinner Anil Kumble, who kept the Indian attack alive and kicking.  Srinath known for his speed, kept batters on their toes and exhibited great use of the swing bowling apart from change in pace, which helped Kumble outfox the opposition with his variations and uncanny action. In 52 Tests together Kumble and Srinath claimed 412 wickets, where the former claimed 225 and the latter scalped 187. 

---

ALSO READ

KL Rahul Joins Dhoni, Kohli And Rohit In Elite Indian List, Attains 'This' Unique Feat

---