Elite club: Indians with 700-plus international wickets

Picking up heaps of wickets in all three formats combined is a great achievement for any bowler. To be able to get wickets in Test, one-day internationals, and T20 internationals on a consistent basis over the years speaks volumes of the quality and the talent that a bowler possesses. For Asian giants India, a few of the top-notch and outstanding bowlers have managed to pick over a staggering 700 wickets across formats and they feature in this article. Interestingly, the top three positions occupied are all spinners in this elite list.

Let’s take a look at the Indians with 700-plus wickets in international cricket:

3) R Ashwin (702)

Right-arm off-break bowler Ravichandran Ashwin is the latest entrant on this chart. The 36-year-old spinner reached the landmark of 700 wickets in international cricket in the first Test match of the ongoing series against West Indies. Ashwin, who made his debut for India in an ODI against Sri Lanka in Harare in the year 2010, has played 271 games for his country. He has managed to pick up 702 scalps in 351 innings at an average of 25.83 and a strike rate of 46.0. Ashwin has taken 33 five-wicket hauls with the best bowling performance of 7/59 and match figures 13/140.

2) Harbhajan Singh (707)

Just ahead of Ashwin is the former spinner Harbhajan Singh who occupies the second position in this chart. The right-arm off-break bowler had made his international debut for India against Australia in a Test match in Bangalore in 1998. Harbhajan appeared in 365 games for his side across formats. In 442 innings, he snared 707 scalps at an average of 32.59 and a strike rate of 58.7 with 28 five-wicket hauls in three formats combined, with the best bowling performance of 8/84 and match figures of 15/217. Notably, he is one of the three Indian bowlers to have grabbed the hat trick in the longest format of the game.

1) Anil Kumble (953)

Legendary spinner Anil Kumble finds himself at the top of the tree. The leg-break googly bowler had made his debut for team India in a one-day international against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 1990. The 52-year-old played 401 matches for his country in which he picked up a staggering 953 wickets. In 499 innings, Kumble’s average and strike rate were 30.06 and 57.9 respectively. He took 37 five-wicket hauls across formats with the best figures of 10/74 in an innings and match figures of 14/149. Notably, he is one of the three bowlers to have snared all ten scalps in a Test innings.