Most Wickets By Bowling Pair In Tests: Ashwin-Jadeja Surpass Kumble-Harbhjan Tally As Best Indian Spin Bowling Partnership In History

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India's Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on Thursday (January 25) surpassed compatriots Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh's tally to claim most wickets by an Indian spin bowling pair in Test history.

Ashwin-Jadeja achieved the feat during day one of the first Test against England at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, where the duo picked three wickets in the first session of play to go past Kumble-Harbhajan tally of 501 wickets as a pair in Tests.

Ashwin and Jadeja, who started the Hyderabad Test at 500 wickets, equalled the record for best spin bowling partnership when the former trapped Ben Duckett in front of the stumps for LBW before Jadeja struck a few overs later to remove Ollie Pope, a wicket that saw the pair reach 502 wickets as a bowling pair.

In the very next over, Ashwin removed Zak Crawley to take their bowling partnership tally to 503 wickets in 50 Tests playing together. Kumble and Harbhajan had claimed 501 wickets in 54 Tests playing together in the longest format.

Ashwin has 277 wickets and Jadeja has 229 scalps in the partnership. The only other spin pair to take over 350 wickets as partners is also from India, the legendary duo of BS Chandrashekar and Bishan Singh Bedi, who took 368 wickets in 42 Tests.

While there are four Indian partnerships in the top 5 most successful spin bowling pair, the list is topped by Sri Lankan duo Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya. Here is a look at the most wickets by a spin pair:

Most Wickets as a pair in Tests by Spinners

• Muttiah Muralitharan & Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) - 667 wickets in 90 Tests
• R Ashwin & Ravindra Jadeja (India) - 506 wickets in 50 Tests
• Anil Kumble & Harbhajan Singh (India) - 501 wickets in 54 Tests
• Bishan Singh Bedi & BS Chandrashekar (India) - 368 wickets in 42 Test
• BS Chandrashekar & Erapalli Prasanna (India) - 331 wickets in 43 Tests

Very rarely has a spin partnership had more impact in the red-ball like the Indian spin combinations. Most bowling partnerships has seen either two pacers or a spin-pace bowling combo dominate the longest format as partners.

The best bowling partnership overall belongs to England duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who achieved the feat last year in the Pink Ball Test against New Zealand. The English pair ended their partnership with 1039 wickets in 138 Tests.

Most wickets by bowling pair in Tests