Indian national cricket team are known for their reputation for producing top-tier spinners in their history. While they have produced quality fast bowlers, the spinners have gone on to wreak havoc on the opposition’s batting line-up by extracting a great deal of sharp turn in the home conditions.
This is precisely the reason why the Indian spinners thrived in taking more wickets when compared to the Indian pacers. From leg breaks, off-breaks, googly, and doosra to the top spinner, carrom ball, slider and arm ball, the spinners have weaved the magic with their types of bowling in international cricket and produced the much-needed breakthroughs.
Now, in this article, let’s take a look at the 10 greatest Indian spinners of all time.
10. Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal has been one of the handy assets to the team for a long time now. He is undoubtedly the top leg spinner for India at the moment. Moreover, he has a great deal of experience in international cricket and has been playing active cricket for India since 2016. He has taken 121 wickets in 72 ODIs including 2 fifers. On the other hand, he has taken 91 wickets in 75 T20Is including 1 fifer.
9. Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja became the second Indian cricketer to take 500 wickets and score 5000 runs in international cricket. Besides his batting and bowling prowess, he has been a world-class fielder as well. The left-arm orthodox bowler has taken 263 wickets in 63 Tests including 12 fifers. He took 189 wickets in 171 ODIs including one fifer and took 51 wickets in 64 T20Is.
8. Srinivas Venkataraghavan
Srinivas Venkataraghavan was one of those spinners who deceived the batters with a wide range of spin and accuracy. Moreover, he was not only a good off-spinner but also a productive lower-order batsman. Having played 57 Tests for India, he has bagged a total of 156 wickets including 3 fifers and 1 ten-wicket haul. On the other hand, he has accounted for five dismissals in 15 ODIs.
7. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar was one of the rare breeds of Indian spinners who was quite successful away from home. It is worth mentioning that the has taken 42 wickets in only five overseas Tests. Having played 58 Tests, he has taken as many as 242 wickets including 16 five-wicket hauls wherein he has taken three wickets to his name in a solitary ODI.
6. Erapalli Prasanna
Erapalli Prasanna was one of the greatest Indian spinners to have represented the national cricket team. Moreover, he was also one of the members of the Indian spin quartet (Venkataraghavan, Chandrasekhar and Bishan Singh Bedi). Having played 49 Tests, he has taken 189 wickets to his name including 10 fifers. He registered his personal best bowling figures of 8/76.
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5. Bishan Singh Bedi
Bishan Singh Bedi operated as a slow left-arm orthodox bowler for India from 1966 to 1979. He was a canny bowler who is best known for his reputation to bowl flight deliveries to trick the batsmen into playing the wrong shots. He has played 67 Tests wherein he took a total of 266 wickets to his name including 14 five-wicket hauls. On the other hand, he took seven wickets in 10 ODIs.
4. Subhash Gupte
Subhash Gupte might have played only 36 Tests for India but the impact he created in his short spell was exceptional. He represented the team for a decade (1951 to 1961). Notably, he was one of the best proponents of leg spin. He has bagged a total of 149 wickets to his name including 12 five-wicket hauls, registering his best bowling figures of 9/102 against West Indies.
3. Harbhajan Singh
Popularly known as “Turbanator”, Harbhajan Singh was one of the important pillars of Indian cricket history. He was undoubtedly the greatest off-spinner for India during the playing days of his career. Moreover, he could extract quite a turn from the surfaces. He took 417 wickets in 103 Tests including 25 fifers wherein he took 269 wickets in 239 ODIs including 3 fifers. Harbhajan took 25 wickets in 28 ODIs.
2. Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin is currently the best spinner for India in international cricket. Besides that, he is also a handy lower-order batsman. Ravi Ashwin is a regular feature in the Test set-up and has taken 467 wickets in 91 Tests including 31 fifers. He took 151 wickets in 113 ODIs and 72 wickets in 65 T20Is. Notably, he slammed 5 centuries and 13 fifties in Tests. On the other hand, he has one fifty in ODIs.
1. Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble is undoubtedly the greatest Indian spinner of all time. He has been statistically very impressive in numbers. He was best known for his unique bowling style which aided top-spin and over-spin. The former right-arm spin bowler has taken a total of 619 wickets in Test cricket including 35 fifers. He has also scored 1 century and 5 fifties in Tests. He took 337 wickets in 271 ODIs including two fifers.
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