The No.1 Test bowler in the world, Jasprit Bumrah, really earned his corn for India in the first Test of the five-match series against Australia at Optus Stadium, Perth. The long lanky fast bowler, aged 30, ended with five wickets in the first innings and three wickets in the second, including the scalps of all three Australian batters. Bumrah’s super show with the ball fetched him Player of the Match in Perth. The right-arm pacer would like to go on to the next Test of the 2024-25 edition of Border-Gavaskar Trophy in red-hot form as well and come up with a big show at the Adelaide Oval for India.
The second test between India and Australia opens on December 6, Friday, and will give Bumrah a chance to find a place in an elite list alongside the legendary Zaheer Khan. He needs just one more wicket to join the exclusive club after already claiming 49 wickets in 10 Tests so far in 2024, as he tries to become the second Indian fast bowler after Zaheer to take over 50 Test wickets in a calendar year.
Zaheer ended his illustrious Test career with a total of 311 wickets in 92 Tests for India, before dismissing 51 batters in 15 Tests played in 2002. Under the record books for maximum dismissals in Tests for India in any calendar year, Kapil Dev tops the charts. The former all-rounder heads the ranks with 75 scalps taken in 18 Tests on the field in 1983. Kapil also comes in at No. 2 with 74 wickets that he claimed in 17 Tests in the year 1979.
Most Test wickets in a calendar year for India
Kapil Dev – 75 wickets in 1983
Kapil Dev – 74 wickets in 1979
Anil Kumble – 74 wickets in 2004
Ravichandran Ashwin – 72 wickets in 2016
Harbhajan Singh – 63 wickets in 2002
Harbhajan Singh – 63 wickets in 2008
Ravichandran Ashwin – 62 wickets in 2015
Harbhajan Singh – 60 wickets in 2001
Anil Kumble – 57 wickets in 2006
Ravichandran Ashwin – 56 wickets in 2017
Ravichandran Ashwin – 54 wickets in 2021
Ravindra Jadeja – 54 wickets in 2017
Anil Kumble – 54 wickets in 1999
Bhagwath Chandrasekhar – 52 wickets in 1976
Vinoo Mankad – 51 wickets in 1951
Zaheer Khan – 51 wickets in 2002
By their performances, Kapil and Zaheer have also been joined by Anil Kumble (74, 57, 54), Ravichandran Ashwin (72, 62, 56, 54), Harbhajan Singh (63, 63, 60), Ravindra Jadeja (54), Bhagwath Chandrasekhar (52), and Vinoo Mankad (51), who have taken more than 50 Test wickets in a calendar year.
Most wickets in a calendar year in Tests
Shane Warne (Australia) – 96 wickets in 2006
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) – 90 wickets in 2006
Dennis Lillee (Australia) – 85 wickets in 1981
Allan Donald (South Africa) – 80 wickets in 1998
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) – 80 wickets in 2001
Joel Garner (West Indies) – 79 wickets in 1984
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) – 75 wickets in 2000
Kapil Dev (India) – 75 wickets in 1983
Dale Steyn (South Africa) – 74 wickets in 2008
Kapil Dev (India) – 74 wickets in 1979
Anil Kumble (India) – 74 wickets in 2004
Most in the calendar year record has been taken by earlier Australian spinner Shane Warne. In the year 2005, Shane Warne appeared in 15 Tests for the Baggy Greens and made it into the record book by picking up 96 wickets.
