In test cricket, Indian pitches are very spin-friendly. One of the best ways to check the quality of a test pacer is to analyse his ability to take wickets in Asian conditions, especially in India. We will now have a look at the list of most wickets taken by a pacer in India in tests.
10. Wes Hall
Wes Hall was a West Indies pacer. He played in two Indian tours, 1958-59 and 1966-67. He had a stellar series in 1958-59, taking 30 wickets. Specifically, in the Kanpur test of the 1958-59 series, he took six wickets in the first innings and five wickets in the second innings, leading West Indies to a 203-run win. Wes Hall took 38 wickets in tests in India.
9. Courtney Walsh
Courtney Walsh was a pacer from West Indies who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the first bowler in the history of test cricket to take 500 wickets. He played two test-series in India, 1987-88 and 1994. He was a consistent wicket-taker in both the series. Overall, he had three five-wicket hauls in India. Courtney Walsh took 43 wickets in tests in India.
8. Ramakant Desai
Ramakant Desai was an Indian pacer who played tests from 1959 to 1968. He was a medium pacer, and a decent bowler. He had 468 wickets in first-class cricket, but only 74 were test wickets. The majority of his wickets were in India. Ramakant Desai took 57 wickets in tests in India.
7. Mohammed Shami
In recent years, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have become a vital part of the home tests for India, with them being almost as effective as the spinners. Shami has taken many critical breakthroughs in home tests. Mohammed Shami has taken 67 wickets in tests in India.
6. Karsan Ghavri
Karsan Ghavri was an Indian pacer who played in the late 1970s. He had a career of 39 tests, and he took 109 wickets. He was also a useful lower-order batsman, who could safeguard one end. Karsan Ghavri took 77 wickets in tests in India.
5. Umesh Yadav
Umesh Yadav has been a vital pacer for India in home tests, in recent times. He also produces some quick cameos with the bat. Umesh Yadav has been known to be a bit wayward in lines and length, while bowling. However, he has been a consistent wicket-taker in Indian conditions. Umesh Yadav has taken 98 wickets in tests in India.
4. Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma has been having a long career for India. He has had, a lot of transformations in his bowling style. With others becoming consistent wicket-takers, he has now transitioned into a workhorse role, bowling bulk of overs consistently. His test numbers in the past 4-5 years have been extraordinary. Ishant Sharma has taken 104 wickets in tests in India.
3. Zaheer Khan
During his career, Indian team had a shortage of pace bowling resources across formats and particularly, in the test side. Despite that, he was performing out there, taking wickets consistently. He was known for his white-ball exploits, but Zaheer was also pretty good in tests. In the Indian conditions, he has had three five-wicket hauls across 38 tests. Zaheer Khan took 104 wickets in tests in India.
2. Javagal Srinath
Indian team pacers were usually known for being medium pacers, and they focussed more on line and lengths. However, unlike them, Srinath was known to have a high pace. Early in his career, he had a distinct lack of variations, but he made up for that with his speed. During his retirement, he had the most test wickets by an Indian pacer other than Kapil Dev. Javagal Srinath took 108 wickets in tests in India.
1. Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev was one of the greatest all-rounders to ever play for India. He was a great lower-order batsman. He was the best pacer in the team, taking the bulk of wickets on some extremely flat tracks. He still has the highest number of test wickets by an Indian pacer, and will also feature in the top 10 wicket-taking pacers of test cricket. He was also the captain of the Indian team, and led them to some significant victories. Kapil Dev took 219 wickets in tests in India.