5 Asian Bowlers With Most Test Wickets In SENA Countries Since 2011

For a bowler to pick a wicket in Test cricket is like being rewarded for their perseverance throughout their spells. Even for the most skilful and decorated bowler it t takes a lot of patience and hard work to get one wicket despite the fielding position being way more aggressive than we see in the white-ball formats.

Yet bowlers give out their every ounce of sweat and enthusiasm to get the best results for their team and many end up picking five-fors or more than it.

Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is the most successful bowler in the oldest format with 800 Test scalps with the help of 67 five-wicket hauls. Since the spin magician retired in 2010, record pages have been re-written, in fact, some of his own records have been broken.

For a bowler who has grown up bowling in the sub-continent, where the spinners get the larger piece of the pie, it becomes painstaking for him to adapt to foreign pitches like those in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA) countries.

Let us take you’ll to look at the top 5 Asian bowlers who have picked the most Test wickets in SENA countries since the year 2011.

5 Asian Bowlers with most Test wickets in SENA countries since 2011

5) Rangana Herath (54)

Herath is one of the best spinners Sri Lanka produced after Muralitharan. In his early days, the Kurunegala-born bowler played under the shadow of the veteran spinner.

Herath is the most prolific left-arm spinner in the world with 433 Test wickets to his name and led Sri Lanka’s attack post-Murali-era until his own retirement in 2018.

The left-arm spinner has 57 Test wickets in SENA nations, out of which 54 were picked since 2011. Herath’s best performance came against South Africa in the Durban Test of Sri Lanka’s 2011/12 tour. The bowler registered 5/79 as Sri Lanka won by 208 runs and levelled the series at 1-1.

4)Ravichandran Ashwin (67)

With 409 wickets earned from turning the red cherry, Ravichandran Ashwin is ruthless with his variations when he is up against the opposition batters on Indian soil.

Apart from just being a home-track bully, Ashwin has made his presence count in the overseas conditions, getting the breakthroughs at crucial junctures.

In the WTC final against New Zealand when India had to defend 139 in the second innings, Ashwin struck the wickets of openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway that gave his team slim hopes to stay in the contest.

The Tamil Nadu spinner has accumulated 39 wickets in Australia, the second-most he has picked in any country after 286 in India.

3) Jasprit Bumrah (78)

Bumrah has not even completed four years with the oldest format and yet the impact he has created in India’s bowling line-up is commendable.

Along with Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma, Bumrah creates one of the fiercest troikas of pace bowlers in world cricket.

Interestingly, the Gujarat bowler has amassed 95 Test scalps and only four of them have come on home turf, which also brings the fact that he has only played two Tests at home.

Bumrah claimed 5/64 against England in the first Test at Trent Bridge, which took his tally to 16 wickets at the venue, one more than his 15 at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

2) Mohammed Shami (99)

On November 6, Shami made his Test debut at Eden Gardens against West Indies, it was the final bilateral series of legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and the bowler ensured that India’s stalwart received a huge reception.

Shami picked nine wickets in that match with a five-for in the second innings as India won the series 2-0 and since then the bowler has been regular in India’s Test plans.

Over the years, Shami shared the new ball with bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and now Jasprit Bumrah. Shami and Bumrah shocked England not only with their bowling prowess but also with an 89-run stand that helped India set a target of 271 at Lord’s, to which the hosts succumbed in the last two sessions.

Shami is just one short of completing 100 wickets in SENA countries and that could be done in the third Test in Leeds. He has picked 32 and 31 Test wickets in England and Australia respectively.

1) Ishant Sharma (112)

India’s senior-most player, who has played under different captains and eras, is vying to give his best performance after gaining 14 years of experience in international cricket.

Ishant’s 7/74 against England at Lord’s in 2014 will remain as the biggest highlight of his career.

Seven years down the lane, the lanky pacer once again helped India to take a 1-0 lead as he scalped the wickets of Haseeb Hameed and Jonny Bairstow in the second innings where England were bowled out for 120. India won the match by 151 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Ishant has scalped 130 wickets in SENA countries– 51 in England, 31 in Australia, 28 in New Zealand and 20 in South Africa– and 112 of them were registered since 2011.

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