Most Test wickets by an Indian against Australia
India continues their dominance at home with a 2-1 triumph in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 to qualify for the World Test Championship 2021-23 final. The fourth Test in Ahmedabad resulted in a draw with four players, two from each different, scoring centuries.
But it was the bowlers’ game in the first three Tests. Spinners from both teams dominated the first three matches which all ended within three days. Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared the Player of the Series award for taking a combined 47 wickets in four matches.
Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, and Matthew Kunhemann shone with a combined 45 wickets for Australia. Lyon became the first Australian to take 100 wickets against India and now leads the bowling chart in Border-Gavaskar Trophy history.
But Ashwin is not far behind Lyon and leads the bowling chart for India in Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Jadeja took 22 wickets in the latest series to overtake Kapil Dev but both are not among the top three Indian bowlers with most Test wickets against Australia. So, let’s take a look at the top-three Indian bowlers with the most wickets against Australia in Tests.
3. 95 wickets – Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh did not receive much credit as his performances were largely overshadowed by Kumble’s dominance in Test cricket. Harbhajan is among the top-five leading wicket-takers for India in Tests with 417 wickets from 103 matches. He always excelled against Australia with 95 wickets from 18 Tests at an average of 29.95.
2. 111 wickets – Anil Kumble
The legendary Indian spinner remains India’s leading wicket-taker in Tests with 619 Test wickets despite retiring from international cricket in 2008. Against mighty Australia, Kumble took 111 wickets from just 20 Tests at an average of 30.32 and held on to this record for almost 15 years.
1. 113 wickets – Ravichandran Ashwin
As expected, the veteran spinner emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the Border-Gavaskar 2023 trophy with 25 wickets. He also became the no.1 ranked bowler in Test cricket as he completed 100 wickets against Australia. He took seven wickets in the Ahmedabad Test and surpassed Anil Kumble to become the leading Indian wicket-taker against Australia. Ashwin has 114 wickets from just 22 Tests against Australia at an average of 28.36 so far.
