Top Three Indian Test Spinners Of All Time: Ravichandran Ashwin has retired from all forms of international cricket. This brings to an end one of the greatest careers for a bowler in the history of Indian cricket. The 38-year-old announced his retirement following the drawn third Australia vs India Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at The Gabba in Brisbane.
Ashwin’s retirement, for good reason, has brought out the discussion of some of the greatest Indian spinners of all time. That brings up the question: Who are the other greatest spinners to have played for this country?
Today, we will look at the three greatest Indian spinners to have ever played for the national team. These are the top three Indian Test spinners of all time:
Top Three Indian Test Spinners Of All Time
3) Bishan Singh Bedi
Bishan Singh Bedi can stake the claim to being not only one of the best Indian spinners but also one of the best Indian cricketers in Tests in the 20th century. The captain of the national team for much of the 70s, Bedi was an orthodox left-arm spinner but was highly effective.
The head of the dangerous Indian spin quartet, Bishan Singh Bedi, was the most effective and lethal among them. One of the finest stats in cricket is Bedi’s average in the fourth inning of Test matches, which is 14.47, the lowest for any bowler with 10 wickets in the fourth inning.
With 266 wickets in 67 games, Bedi was among the greatest spinners of his era and certainly the greatest Indian bowler of his time.
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2) Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin announced his retirement from Test cricket midway through the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, after the third Test at The Gabba. This brought to an end one of the greatest Test careers for the Men in Blue.
With 537 wickets in 106 games, Ashwin is the seventh-highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket, having taken those wickets with an average of 24.
While Ashwin played a lot of cricket in foreign countries, he played a vast majority of Test cricket at home. In home conditions, he might just be the greatest Indian spinner of all time, with it seeming like he could take a wicket on any delivery in a lot of his matches. While being an off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin had a bag of tricks, having perfected more variations than almost any bowler ever.
1) Anil Kumble
A point of debate among Indian cricket fans for the past few years has been to determine the greatest Indian spinner of all time. That conversation always comes down to two names, R. Ashwin and Anil Kumble. Placing Kumble at No. 1 on this list does not mean that we have him as our answer to that question, but it is difficult to not call ‘Jumbo’ the greatest Indian spinner, nay, bowler, in Test cricket history.
In 123 Test matches, the Bengaluru native took 619 wickets, making him the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket history. With an ability to clean out any batting order in the world, while Kumble did spin the ball a decent amount, that was never his strong suit. The tall spinner was highly effective due to his many variations.
In terms of records, not only is he the highest Indian wicket-taker in Test history, but he is also one of only three bowlers to have ever taken 10 wickets in a single inning.
Check Out: Top Three Indian Test Spinners Of All Time
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