Top 10 bowlers with most five-wicket hauls in test cricket

Only seven bowlers have taken over 30 five-wicket hauls in test cricket.

Test cricket is the ultimate test of any cricketer and there have been legends who have etched their names in record books over the 150-year-plus history of the longest international format.

While batters have gotten away with more accolades, the bowlers have managed to hold their own when it comes to record books. And one of the best feats for a bowler is taking five wickets in an innings or ten wickets in a match.

Bowling out half the batting team on his own is a feat to be lauded and hence here is a look at the top 10 bowlers with the most five-wicket hauls in test cricket, with Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan leading the way.

Here are the top 10 bowlers with the most five-wicket hauls in Tests:

10. Dale Steyn (South Africa) – 26

South African pace express Dale Steyn had a storied test career having made his debut in 2004 and playing his last test in 2019. He just fell short of playing 100 matches for his country.

But in the 93 tests he played for the rainbow nation, he picked up 439 wickets at an amazing average of 22.95. He picked 26 five-wicket hauls and 6 ten-wicket hauls in his career with his best bowling figures of 7/51 coming against India in Nagpur in 2010.

9. Ian Botham (England) – 27

Ian Botham is considered to be one of the greatest all-rounders the world of cricket has seen and he did his best work in test cricket.

Botham made his debut in 1977 and went on to play 102 test matches. Given that he also batted pretty brilliantly, scoring 5200 runs with 14 centuries to his name, him bowling all those overs came as a bonus for the England captains he played under.

Considering his batting prowess, Botham once held the record for most wickets in tests at one time, as he had beaten the record of Dennis Lillie’s 355 scalps in 1986 and held that record for two years, before being surpassed by Richard Hadlee.

In all, Botham ended with 383 wickets in 102 tests with 27 fifers to his name and his best bowling figures of 8/34 against Pakistan in 1978.

8. Glenn McGrath (Australia) – 29

Glenn McGrath is inarguably one of the best pacers to have played cricket. The tall right-hander was a master of making the batters’ lives hell with his accuracy with the ball. He made his debut for Australia in 1993 and played his last and 124th test in 2007.

In all, McGrath picked 563 wickets, at one time the most wickets by a pacer in tests, at an average of 21.64. He picked 29 five-wicket hauls in tests including one hat-trick and his best bowling figures of 8/24 came against Pakistan in 2004-05.

7. James Anderson (England) – 32

One of the greatest fast bowlers ever to play the longest format of the game, James Anderson played till the age of 42.

In his 21-year-long test career from 2003 to 2024, Anderson played 188 test matches (2nd most after Sachin Tendulkar) and went on to pick 704 wickets (3rd most). He picked 32 five-wicket hauls in his test career. His best bowling figures of 7/42 came against the West Indies in 2020.

6. Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka) – 34

Rangana Herath had to compete for space with Muttiah Muralitharan in the Sri Lankan team as he barely played much test cricket despite having made his test debut in 1999. However, once Muralitharan retired in 2008, Herath’s services became mandatory for the Lankan team.

Herath finished his career with 433 wickets in 93 tests, with most of them coming in the 10-year period after Murali retired. His best bowling performance was 9/127, which came against Pakistan in the 2014 Colombo test and he picked 32 five-wicket hauls in total.

5. Anil Kumble (India) – 35

Perhaps the greatest leg-spinner India produced, Anil Kumble broke many records in his amazing career which began in 1990 against England and picked up 619 wickets in 132 tests for India.

Kumble registered 35 five-wicket hauls in tests and his best bowling performance was a record 10/74 against Pakistan in the 1999 Delhi test match. With this, he had become only the second bowler in test cricket to achieve this astonishing feat after Jim Laker of England.   

4. Richard Hadlee (New Zealand) – 36

Sir Richard Hadlee is considered to be the best bowler produced by New Zealand ever and this is evident from his haul of 431 wickets in just 86 tests.

Hadlee made his debut for New Zealand in 1973 and played his final test in 1990 and apart from his 431 wickets, which made him the first bowler in test history to go past the 400-wicket mark, he also made 3124 runs with two hundreds to his name.

Hadlee’s best bowling figures were 9/52, which came against Australia in 1985 in the Brisbane test. He picked 36 five-wicket hauls in his career to go with nine 10-wicket match hauls as well.

3. Shane Warne (Australia) – 37

At the second place in the list is the late great Shane Warne, perhaps the best leg spinner in test cricket history and the first bowler to 700 wickets mark in the format. Warne, often considered to be the bowler to revive the art of leg-spin in limited-overs cricket, was a master of theatrics in tests as well.

He made his test debut in 1992 against India and went on to pick 708 wickets in his 145-test career for Australia, including one hat-trick. Warne picked a total of 37 five-wicket hauls in tests with his best bowling figures of 8/71 coming against England in 1994/95.

2. Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 37

Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin can be easily categorized as a genuine all-rounder given that he has over 3000 runs in tests as well with six centuries to his name. But since making his debut in 2011, Ashwin has gone on to become the greatest off-spinner India has produced.

In 101* tests, he has picked 521* wickets and 37 five-wicket hauls in the longest format.

He also has eight ten-wicket hauls to his name as well and his best bowling figures of 7/59 came against New Zealand in the 2016/17 season.

1. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) – 67

However, the number one spot is still held by Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who had 67 five-wicket hauls to his name in tests, a record that might not ever be broken. The off-spinner made his debut in 1992 and in 133 tests, picked a record 800 wickets in tests with his best bowling figures being 9/51.

He remains the only bowler to take 9 wickets in an innings twice and despite all the controversies in his career over his bowling action, Muralitharan fought back hard and became a bonafide legend of the game. He finished his career as the highest wicket-taker in both tests and ODIs.

(All stats updated till 22nd September, 2024)

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.