Ravindra Jadeja-R Ashwin combo steals tag of most successful Indian pair in Test cricket from Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh

Indian spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja scripted history at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday (January 25). They went past former cricketers Anil Kumble-Harbhajan Singh to become the most successful bowling pair for India in Test cricket. This massive feat came on the opening day of the first Test between India and England.

Advertisment

The Indian spin attack was on the money after England opted to bat first in an attempt to post a competitive total on the board. The English openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley managed to tackle the threat from fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. They added a solid 55/0 before Ashwin and Jadeja inflicted a mini-collapse. 

Duckett was the first to leave the ground as Ashwin trapped the left-hander in front of the stumps in the 12th over. A few overs later, Jadeja sent back Ollie Pope and Ashwin struck yet again in quick succession to make the scoreboard reading 60/3 in 15.1 overs. Except for Ben Stokes' heroics at the end of the first innings, England's 'bazball' was quiet for most of the time, as Axar Patel also joined the fun in Hyderabad. 

Ashwin - Jadeja becomes most successful spin pair in the world

Advertisment

Ashwin and Jadeja have surpassed the legendary duo of Kumble and Harbhajan in terms of wickets taken in pairs in the longer format of the game. With those three initial wickets, the two bowling all-rounders claimed 503 wickets while playing together. Harbhajan-Kumble combined for 501 wickets in 54 matches. 

Notably, Ashwin and Jadeja are now also the most successful spin pair in the world. All pairs ranked above them are either pacers or pacers in partnership with a spinner. English fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad are at the top of the list with 1039 wickets in 138 Test matches, followed by Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath - 1001 wickets. Among the currently active pairs, Australia's Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon lead the way with 643 wickets in 81 Tests.

Both Ashwin and Jadeja finished with three wickets each, while Axar took two wickets. Thanks to Stoke's one-man fightback (70 off 88 balls), the visitors reached a decent score of 246-10. The southpaw was posing some serious threat but Bumrah (2/28) knocked off his stumps with a smashing delivery to wrap up the first innings.