Indian cricket has always placed a high value on Test matches. No matter how strong the opponent is, it’s all about prestige in the cricketing community.
India is currently playing a red-ball series against Bangladesh, a team against whom they have a winning record. They have won seven and drawn two of their nine Test matches against the Bangladesh team, with the exception of the current match in Dhaka.
That winning record can be partially attributed to exceptional bowling performances in the past, particularly by Indian spinners. In the longest format of the game, we examine the top five bowling performances by Indian spinners in Bangladesh.
#1 Kuldeep Yadav – 5/40, Chattogram 2022
After being out of the Indian Test team for more than a year, Kuldeep Yadav returned. He was added to the playing XI as the third spinner in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, following Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Kuldeep and the other bowlers bowled extremely well together. In Bangladesh’s first innings, he took big wickets from Shakib al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. He also removed Taijul Islam and Ebadot Hossain from office and cleaned up the tail.
As a result, India’s 404 in the first innings prevented the hosts from forming partnerships. India took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series after winning the Test match by 188 runs. Kuldeep was named the Player of the Match because he took 40 wickets in the first innings and took three more in the second.
#2 Ravichandran Ashwin – 5/87, Fatullah 2015
Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the greatest off-spinners of all time. He has taken 10 wickets in five innings on Bangladeshi soil. He dismisses for an average of 28 runs and takes a wicket every nine overs.
In a single Test in 2015, his performance against the Tigers was his best. In the first inning, the visitors put up 462/6 points. In response, the hosts only managed 256 runs in their first innings of play. Ashwin was the boss’s destructor in the innings.
The wily off-spinner took a few major scalps – Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib al Hasan, and Liton Das. Additionally, he fired Shuvagata Hom. This bowling execution guaranteed that the guests had the option to uphold a follow-on. However, the rain meant that the match ended in a draw.
#3 Sunil Joshi – 5/142, Dhaka 2000
From 1996 to 2000, the left-arm spinner from Hubli, Karnataka, played 15 matches for India. When India played Bangladesh for the first time in a Test match, he was in the playing XI.
Bangladesh chose to bat first after winning the toss. For his five-wicket haul, Joshi bowled the most innings overs (45.3) and became the first Indian to do so in the neighboring country. He cleaned up the tail and took wickets from the top order.
Joshi took one more 3 wickets in the subsequent innings and scored an essential 92 batting at number 8. He was named Player of the Match after India prevailed in the match by nine wickets.
#4 Anil Kumble – 4/55, Chattogram, 2004
The former Test captain Anil Kumble still holds the record for the third most wickets taken by a spinner. In a distinguished career that spanned 18 years and 132 matches, he took 619 wickets. During India’s 2004 tour, his performance against the neighbors was his best.
India won the toss and won by 540 runs, including centuries from Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid. Bangladesh responded with 333 runs, which was clearly insufficient. The leg spinner was the best bowler, dismissing four of the top six batters.
In India, Kumble’s spell was crucial in imposing a follow-on. In the third innings, they beat the hosts by just 124 runs to win the Test series 2-0.
Our list of great spinner performances by India against Bangladesh in Test cricket is now complete. With Ashwin already having taken four wickets, the upcoming match in Mirpur might produce yet another spin masterclass.
On the very first day, he was able to extract bounce and turn from the wicket. Ashwin has taken the most wickets on Day 1 of a Test match in the last seven years.