The bowlers are an essential part of cricket, without the bowlers, the game is totally incomplete. We have seen many occasions in cricket where the bowlers have shown their worth by winning the matches independently. The game of cricket has seen some great bowlers since this game started. In this article, we will highlight the Most Wickets In Test Match in the history of cricket. The bowlers have influenced the game in their time within all the formats.
Test matches are known to be one of the most loved formats of cricket. The very first official recognized Test match was played between 15 and 19 March 1877. The first match was played between England and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground(MCG).
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Most Wickets In Test Match:
1. Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan debuted with Sri Lanka against Australia in 1992. He had a very distinctive style of bowling action from all the spinners of the world. Muralitharan played test cricket for 18 years(1992-2010). The last match that he played was against India at Galle, and he bagged 8 wickets in the last match. He is known as the highest wicket-taker in the history of test cricket. Muttiah has taken 800 test wickets in his career of 133 test matches, including 67 fifers. This is the most by any other bowler from the past. This is the reason that he tops the list of Most Wickets In Test Match.
2. Shane Warne
He is known to be the best leg spinner in the history that anybody has ever seen. Shane Warne was the person who used to trouble all the batsmen of the world with his variations. Shane was even able to turn from 3rd leg stump to the off stump. In the world of cricket, he was known as the man who was able to make his ball talk everywhere. Shane debuted in his first test match in 1992, which was against India. In that match, he took only one wicket. But no one had a clue that he had the potential of taking 700 wickets at the end of his career. The last match that he played was against England in the year 2007. He took 2 wickets in his last test match. Warne has an excellent test cricket stat. He was able to take 708 wickets in his career of 145 test matches. Shane Warne is considered to be the second-highest wicket-taker, and this record is held by him for 13 years.
3. James Anderson
He is the third-highest wicket-taker in the history of test cricket. James Anderson debuted in test cricket in 2003 the match was against Zimbabwe. He is famous for his ability to swing the ball. James was considered as “Swing king”, who used to swing the ball in both, which made it difficult for any cricketer to bat (135km/hr). He has a record of taking 664 wickets in 174 matches so far with 32 fifers. Shane was the only pace bowler who took 600 test wickets. He is currently 40 years old and will maybe play for more couple of years.
4. Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble is known as the highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket and also the fourth highest in the history of cricket, with 619 wickets in 132 test matches. He was able to take 35 five-wicket hauls in the longest format of the game. Kumble debuted in a test match in 1990, and match was against England. He played for 18 years in test cricket for India. Kumble played his last match against Australia in 2008. He is one of the beloved bowlers of India that comes under the list of Most Wickets In Test Matches.
5. Glenn McGrath
He was the Aussie legend who played for 14 years in test cricket(1993-2007). Glen debuted in the test match in 1993 the match was against New Zealand. He is considered one of the highest wicket-taker among the pace bowlers of Australia. He was famous for his line, length, and swing. Glenn was the bowler who was able to take wickets on every ground that he played. He has taken 563 wickets in 124 test matches, also he has crossed the mark of 5 wickets 29 times in test cricket.
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