Most wickets in away Tests
Bowlers have clearly dominated the first two matches in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023. Indian bowlers, especially spinners, proved too dominant for the world’s no.1 Test team and are likely to replicate the same in the remaining two matches in the home series.
The ace spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took 15 off 20 wickets in the first match in Nagpur and added 16 more in the second match in Delhi. Ashwin is the highest-ranked spinner in the ICC Test Bowler rankings and Jadeja is the top-ranked all-rounder. Bumrah, who ranks fifth in the bowler’s chart, is missing the tour due to injury.
However, Indian spinners have failed to show the same level of dominance in away conditions in red-ball cricket. The prime example is Ashwin, who has 326 wickets at home at an amazing average of 20.85 but has managed to take only 133 wickets in away Tests at an average of 32.06. So, let’s take a look at the top three bowlers with the most wickets in away Tests.
3) 290 wickets – Courtney Walsh
Courtney Walsh, one of the best pacers to ever play cricket, remains West Indies’ leading wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs. He took 519 wickets from 132 Tests at an average of 24.44 and formed a fearsome partnership with Curtly Ambrose and Malcolm Marshall in the 1990s. He excelled on away conditions with 290 wickets from 74 Tests at an average of 25.03, including 14 five-wicket and two ten-wicket match hauls.
2) 307 wickets – Muttiah Muralitharan
The legendary Sri Lankan spinner ended his illustrious career with 800 wickets, and that only in Tests. Muralitharan tops most of the bowling records and is among the only cricketer to take over 300 wickets in away Tests. He took 307 wickets from 60 away Test matches at an average of 27.79 with 22 five-wicket hauls. His career-best spell of 16/220 also came in an away Test, against England at The Oval in 1998.
1) 362 wickets – Shane Warne
The late Australian great tops the chart and that is no surprise at all. Considered the best spinner to ever played cricket, Warne took 708 wickets from 145 Tests at an average of 25.41. Surprisingly his numbers away from Tests are slightly better than at home. Warne took 362 wickets at an average of 25.50 with 20 five-wicket hauls.
