While it is the batsmen who mostly suffer on the bouncy pitches of Australia, bowlers enjoy bowling in such conditions (mainly seamers) as the bounce and pace they get off the pitch in Australia is nowhere, when compared to pitches in the sub-continent.
In today’s stat we would take a look at the bowlers from the sub-continent countries (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) to have picked up most number of wickets in Test cricket in Australia. However the Top 10 players in this list are only from 2 countries and without a doubt they are India and Pakistan.
I wouldn’t be wrong if I called the Australian pitches a fortress for seamers of the sub-continent as in the Top 10 list we have 6 seam bowlers keeping in mind that these countries have produced some of the best spinners in the world. But when it comes to Australia, seamers dominate. Let us take a look at the Top 10 bowlers with most number of Test wickets against Australia:
|
Player Name |
Matches |
Wickets |
BBM |
|
Kapil Dev (Ind) |
11 |
51 |
8/109 |
|
Sarfraz Nawaz (Pak) |
12 |
50 |
11/125 |
|
Anil Kumble (Ind) |
10 |
49 |
12/279 |
|
Imran Khan (Pak) |
13 |
45 |
12/165 |
|
Wasim Akram (Pak) |
9 |
36 |
11/160 |
|
BS Bedi (Ind) |
7 |
35 |
10/194 |
|
Erapalli Prassana (Ind) |
8 |
31 |
8/218 |
|
BS Chandrasekhar (Ind) |
7 |
29 |
12/104 |
|
Ajit Agarkar (Ind) |
7 |
27 |
8/160 |
|
Zaheer Khan (Ind) |
7 |
25 |
7/130 |
Stat updated till 11 Dec, 2014
BBM: Best Bowling in a Match
One of the greatest all-rounders and former Indian Captain Kapil Dev tops the list of highest wicket-takers in Test Cricket against Australia (sub-continent countries only). Kapil Dev has picked up 51 wickets in 11 matches. The only other sub-continent player to pick 50 or more Test wickets against Australia is the Pakistan seam bowler Sarfraz Nawaz with 50 wickets in 12 matches.
Only two spinners make it to the list, them being Anil Kumble and Bishan Singh Bedi. Kumble fell short of 1 wicket to complete 50 Test wickets in Australia, as he picked up 49 wickets in 10 matches. With many new youngsters taking part in the current tour of Australia, we can expect some new faces in the Top 10, but expecting them to reach the Top this early can’t be expected.