Anil Kumble has taken the most Test wickets for India: 619 in 132 matches at 29.65, with 35 five-wicket hauls and eight ten-wicket match hauls. He is fourth on the all-time list, behind Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (708) and James Anderson (704).
Six of the ten bowlers below are spinners, which is the shape you would expect from a side that has played most of its cricket at home.
Most Test wickets for India
| Rank | Player | Span | Matches | Wickets | Average | 5w |
| 1 | Anil Kumble | 1990-2008 | 132 | 619 | 29.65 | 35 |
| 2 | Ravichandran Ashwin | 2011-2024 | 106 | 537 | 24.00 | 37 |
| 3 | Kapil Dev | 1978-1994 | 131 | 434 | 29.64 | 23 |
| 4 | Harbhajan Singh | 1998-2015 | 103 | 417 | 32.46 | 25 |
| 5 | Ravindra Jadeja | 2012-2026 | 91 | 356 | 25.30 | 15 |
| 6= | Zaheer Khan | 2000-2014 | 92 | 311 | 32.94 | 11 |
| 6= | Ishant Sharma | 2007-2021 | 105 | 311 | 32.40 | 11 |
| 8 | Bishan Bedi | 1966-1979 | 67 | 266 | 28.71 | 14 |
| 9 | Bhagwath Chandrasekhar | 1964-1979 | 58 | 242 | 29.74 | 16 |
| 10 | Javagal Srinath | 1991-2002 | 67 | 236 | 30.49 | 10 |
| 11 | Jasprit Bumrah | 2018-2025 | 52 | 234 | 19.79 | 16 |
Ranks are shared where the wicket count is equal. Jasprit Bumrah is listed at eleventh because he is the bowler most likely to move.
Anil Kumble — 619 wickets
Kumble debuted against England in 1990 and played his last Test against Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla in 2008. In 1999, on the same ground, he took 10 wickets in a Test innings against Pakistan, becoming the second bowler to do it after Jim Laker. Only Ajaz Patel has managed it since, for New Zealand at the Wankhede in 2021.
With Harbhajan Singh he formed India’s most productive spin pairing, the two of them taking 501 wickets in the 54 Tests they played together.
Ravichandran Ashwin — 537 wickets
Ashwin is second with 537 wickets in 106 Tests. He became the second India bowler to reach 500 Test wickets, in February 2024 against England at Rajkot, and last played for India later that year.
His average of 24.00 is comfortably the best of any India bowler with 400 or more Test wickets, and his 37 five-wicket hauls are more than Kumble’s 35 from 26 fewer matches.
Kapil Dev — 434 wickets
India’s leading fast bowler in Tests by a distance, with 434 wickets in 131 matches at 29.64 between 1978 and 1994. The next quickest bowler on this list, Zaheer Khan, is 123 behind him.
Harbhajan Singh — 417 wickets
Harbhajan took 417 in 103 Tests at 32.46, including 25 five-wicket hauls and five ten-wicket matches, behind only Kumble and Ashwin on eight each.
Ravindra Jadeja — 356 wickets and climbing
Jadeja is fifth and the only bowler in the top ten still playing. He has 356 wickets in 91 Tests at 25.30 — the second-best average in the top ten after Ashwin’s — and he passed Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, both on 311, on his way up.
Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma — 311 each
The two share sixth place on 311, though from very different careers: Zaheer got there in 92 Tests, Ishant in 105.
Jasprit Bumrah — 234, and the best average of all
Bumrah sits eleventh on 234 wickets from 52 Tests, two behind Javagal Srinath. His average of 19.79 is the best of any bowler in Test history with 200 or more wickets, ahead of Malcolm Marshall’s 20.94.
See also our list of the most wickets for India across all formats.
Featured photo: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP