Top 10 Bowlers With Most Wickets in Tests for India

In a cricket-obsessed nation with over 1.5 billion people, going on to become one of the few hundred cricketers who represent their state and country is a big accomplishment. Earning a spot in the Indian Test cricket team is an even greater honour, given the prestige of the format.

The sixth team to be granted Test status, India, played their first-ever Test on 25 June 1932 at Lord's. Over the decades, several Indian Test cricketers have gone on to become one of the best in the world. The highest run-scorer in Test cricket history is an Indian - Sachin Tendulkar, while several Indian bowlers are among the world's top 30 highest wicket-takers in whites. Check out a list of India's highest wicket-takers in Test cricket.

Anil Kumble 

Over a career of 18 years, Anil Kumble, one of the best leg-spin bowlers of all time, became India's highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 619 wickets in 132 matches. This includes 31 four-wicket hauls and 35 fifers. 

One of the greatest moments of his glittering Test career came in 1999. Playing against Pakistan at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla, Kumble took all 10 wickets in an innings, becoming the second player after England's Jim Laker to do so. Another record held by Kumble - he bowled a total of 40,850 balls in his Test career, the most by any Indian and the second-highest overall.

But beyond these stats, one of the fondest memories from Kumble's career is a spell that he bowled with a broken jaw. In 2002, during a Test match against the West Indies in Antigua, Kumble was hit on the jaw by a bouncer from Mervyn Dillon while batting, which resulted in a fracture. Despite the injury, Kumble returned to the field with his face bandaged and bowled 14 consecutive overs, even managing to dismiss Brian Lara. Kumble retired from international cricket in 2008. 

Anil Kumble//Getty

Ravichandran Ashwin 

Ravichandran Ashwin, along with Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma, is one of the only three active players among India's top 10 Test wicket-takers. In 100 matches from 2011 to 2024, the offspinner has taken 516 wickets at an average of 23.75. With the bat, he has accumulated over 3000 runs, including five centuries and 14 fifties. 

In March this year, while playing his 100th Test, Ashwin achieved the record for the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket for India (36) and also became the first-ever player to achieve a unique record of bagging a fifer on both his debut and his 100th Test match. Notably, he took a fifer on his debut against the West Indies in 2011. 

The fastest bowler to reach 300 wickets in terms of number of innings, Ashwin is the highest-ranked bowler in the current ICC men's player rankings. Among other records, Ashwin is the only Indian cricketer to register a century and take five wickets in the same Test match on three different occasions. Additionally, he has the second-most Man of the Series awards in Tests (10) and is the fastest to 25 five-wicket hauls.

Ravichandran Ashwin//Getty

Kapil Dev 

India's first World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev is celebrated as one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket. In 131 matches from 1978 to 1994, the medium pacer scalped 434 wickets, including 23 fifers. With the bat, he averaged 31.05 and scored eight centuries.

 The only Test player in history to have taken more than 400 wickets and scored more than 5,000 runs, Dev, was the highest wicket-taker in Tests at the time of his retirement in 1994. He surpassed the record of Richard Hadlee, who took 431 wickets until his retirement in 1990. However, five years later, Dev's record was broken by Courtney Walsh, who became the highest wicket-taker.

Dev, now 65, also holds the record for the best bowling figures as a captain in a Test innings – 9/83 vs the West Indies in 1983 and still remains the only cricketer with a double of 400+ wickets and 5000+ runs in Test cricket.

Kapil Dev//Getty

Harbhajan Singh 

Next on the list is offspinner Harbhajan Singh with 417 wickets in a 103-Test career that spanned from 1998 to 2015. He maintained a bowling average of 32.46 throughout his 18-year-long career. The first Indian off-spinner to reach 400 Test wickets, Singh recorded 25 five-wicket hauls and five 10-wicket hauls.

One of Singh's performances against Australia in 2001 is widely remembered as one of the best moments from his Test career. He became the first Indian to take a Test hat-trick while playing against Australia in Kolkata. His three consecutive victims were Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne. In the next Test of the same series, he went on to record his career-best spell of 8/84. 

Harbhajan Singh//Getty

Zaheer Khan 

Left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan, who made his Test debut in 2000 and played his last match in the format in 2014, is sixth on the list with 311 wickets in 92 matches at an average of 32.94. He was an equally, impressive ODI bowler, and one of his many ODI achievements was picking up 21 wickets in nine matches in the 2011 World Cup which India won. 

Known for his ability to move the ball both ways, Khan was particularly threatening to left-handed batsmen, having dismissed 237 of them. Only Muttiah Muralitharan (325) and Shaun Pollock (252) sent back more southpaws than Khan. 

Khan's career was frequently interrupted by recurring injuries, which hampered his progress on the international stage. A recipient of the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri, he retired in 2015 with 610 international wickets across all formats.

Zaheer Khan//Getty

Ishant Sharma 

Ishant Sharma, who last played for India in the Test series against New Zealand in 2021 but has not officially announced retirement, has picked up 311 wickets in 105 matches. A fast bowler, Sharma's fastest delivery in Tests was bowled to Ricky Ponting at 152.2 kmph in 2011. That same year, he became the fifth youngest player to reach the landmark of 100 Test wickets.

His best spell was 7/74 against England at Lord's in 2014, which ended India's 28-year-long wait for a Test win at the iconic venue. Sharma has also played 80 ODIs and 14 T20Is, taking 123 wickets across the two formats. 
 

Ishant Sharma//Getty

Ravindra Jadeja 

Seventh on the list is Ravindra Jadeja, among the best all-rounders of his generation. Since making his Test debut in 2012, the left-arm spinner has taken 294 wickets in 72 matches at an average of 24.13. Jadeja has 13 fifers and as many 10-wicket hauls under his belt. His best - a 7/42 - came against Australia at the Kotla in Delhi in February 2023. 

Earlier in 2021, Jadeja became the fifth Indian and fifth-fastest player to record 2,000 runs and 200 wickets in Tests. He also holds the record for the most Test wickets by an Indian left-arm spinner in a calendar year - 54 wickets in 10 matches in 2017. 

Ravindra Jadeja//Getty

Bishan Singh Bedi 

One of India's greatest spin bowlers, Bishan Singh Bedi played from 1966 to 1979, taking 266 wickets in 67 Tests including 14 fifers. Bedi was a part of the famous Indian spin quartet and also led India in 22 matches. His best Test performance was 7/98 against Australia in Calcutta during the 1969–70 series.

Bedi is also just behind Lance Gibbs in terms of the number of maiden overs bowled per Test. Bedi’s rate is 16.35 maiden overs per Test, while Gibbs’ rate is 16.62. Bedi, who was awarded the Padma Shri award in 1970 and the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, passed away in October 2023. 

Bishen Singh Bedi//Getty

Bhagwath Chandrasekhar

Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, known for his leg-spin and ability to extract significant turns, played a key role in Indian cricket during the 1960s and early 1970s. He played 58 Test matches, taking 242 wickets at an average of 29.74. His most notable performance came against Australia in 1977-78, where he took twin spells of 6/52 and 6/52 in the Melbourne Test.

Chandrasekhar had a poor batting record, averaging just 4.07 in Tests. He registered a total 23 Test ducks and scored fewer runs (167) than the wickets he took (242). Recipient of the Padma Shri and Arjuna award, the now-79-year-old's last Test match was in 1979.

Bhagwat Subramaniam Chandrasekhar//Getty