Top 10 Leading wicket–takers in Tests in 2016

The 2016 bowling chart has one clear winner – Ravichandran Ashwin who beats everyone by quite a margin. Rangana Herath, the Sri Lankan spin bowling spearhead is a distant second numbers wise and England fast bowler Stuart Broad ends the year as the third highest wicket-taker of the year despite a silent series in India.

The list which is fairly dominated by fast bowlers has two more spinners – left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and leg-spinner Yasir Shah – apart from Ashwin and Herath. Quite interestingly, these four bowlers also happen to be the only Asians in the list clearly indicating the quality of spin arsenal in the Asian teams. Moving over from the slow bowlers, the fast bowlers also had a tremendous year with names promising names like Kagiso Rababa, Chris Woakes and Neil Wagner making their fans proud.

10. Chris Woakes – 41 wickets:

Chris Woakes faced tough competition for his senior mate Ben Stokes for the all–rounder’s spot in the England team. Initially, the selectors seemed open to having only one all-rounder in the team making it really difficult for him to break in. However, an opportunity arrived when Stokes was injured during the home series against Sri Lanka and that is what he needed to seal his place in the team and end up changing the minds of the bosses. Woakes has emerged as the perfect clones of Stokes, contributing heavily with both bat and ball.

Woakes has emerged as the perfect clone of Stokes, contributing heavily with both bat and ball. The last two years were only about struggle for him, but the right-arm fast bowler made a point for himself by grabbing 41 wickets in 12 matches apart from valuable runs. His consistency has earned him a value and made him a Stokes’ partner rather than rival.

9. James Anderson – 41 wickets:

It appears that swing bowler James Anderson is slowly losing his sheen as he is growing older but England’s bowling spearhead still bagged 41 wickets in 12 matches to end as the ninth highest wicket taker of the year. Many experts pointed out the lack of intensity in his bowling. A few ex-cricketers feel his pace has dropped. But, Anderson, despite all these criticism performed fairly this year.

The 34-year-old after a silent away series against South Africa at the start of this year had a successful time against Sri Lanka and Pakistan before picking up an injury. However, he made a quick return to the side again for the tour of India for the last three Tests of the five-match series. Initially, it seemed that he adapted well with 4 wickets in the Vizag Test but later went wicketless for the remainder of series.

8. Neil Wagner – 41 wickets

Neil Wagner would remember 2016 as the best year so far in his career. The left-arm fast bowler, who made his debut in 2012, has often struggled to keep his place in the team intact. In his debut year, he played only two Tests. Later, 2013 and 2014 was all about making name for himself.

This year was about flourishing at the Test level. He started off with a superb show who against Australia at Wellington and later continued to be the top performer for the Black Caps. In all, he played 9 Tests and ended up with 41 wickets to become the most successful Kiwi bowler this year.

7. Kagiso Rabada – 42 wickets:

South Africa can be assured of their next fast bowling superstar. He is Kagiso Rabada. With Dale Steyn fading away and Morne Morkel also facing injury issues, the Proteas have found the right-arm fast bowler at the right time. He can jack up the speeds at 145 plus and make the best batsman hop off the pitch out of discomfort.

Rabada announced his arrival with a bang with spectacular limited-overs performances against Bangladesh and India. Later, when given the opportunity to shine in the whites he did not disappoint bowling many scintillating spells against England at home and against Australia in their own backyard. In a nutshell, he took 42 wickets from 8 wickets at an average of 22.23 runs.

6. Ravindra Jadeja – 43 wickets:

Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin’s partner in crime, enjoyed a great year just like the offie. The left-arm spinner is one part of the spin pair which has helped India press their dominance over the opposition, especially at home. His consistent efforts this year have brought him 43 wickets in just 9 matches and put him at the 6th position.

Jadeja has on most occasions played the role of a sidekick for Ashwin. But, it’s an interesting fact that whenever the lead off-spinner fails to produce a good spell, it is Jadeja who comes to the rescue and puts his team on the winning track. The most recent example being his maiden 10-wicket haul against England in Chennai.

5. Yasir Shah – 43 wickets:

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah was in the reckoning this year. He is perhaps the only bowler who challenged Ravichandran Ashwin. The Pakistan leg-spinner has been so impressive so far that Shane Warne, the greatest leg-spinner ever himself is a fan of the Pakistan leggie.

This year for him was about breaking milestones. He became the fastest to 100 wickets and also enjoyed successes in England and UAE. It has taken him very little time to establish his name as the next big thing of the cricket world. Overall, Shah with 43 wickets in 9 Tests ends as the 5th highest Test wicket-taker this year.

4. Mitchell Starc – 45 wickets

The left-arm fast bowler is a fast bowling giant, speaking not in terms of physical abilities but of bowling capabilities and mental toughness. Mitchell Starc played only a handful of seven Tests this year, thanks to his persistent ankle issues. However, he was the toughest to face under any conditions be it the slow tracks of Sri Lanka or at home in Perth.

The ankle trouble kept him out of action for most part of the year and played only two series. But when he made a return for the Sri Lanka tour, he made his presence felt by finishing as the the highest wicket-taker for Australia. Later, he continued to impress and had a productive time against South Africa at home despite the series ending in a debacle for the team. His dominating show yielded him 45 wickets in just 7 matches.

3. Stuart Broad – 48 wickets:

England’s fast bowling star Stuart Broad was a traveller this year. From enjoying home conditions to getting himself sweaty and soiled in the humid of the sub-continent, Broad had an eventful year with the Three Lions. The bowler more or less sharpened his skills, learning how to effectively bowl cutters and slower ones when playing on the dead tracks during the tours to India and Bangladesh.

All the versatility saw him end the year on a productive note with 48 wickets from 14 Tests. His most memorable bowling performances of the year came against Pakistan at Lord’s where he picked 6/17.

2. Rangana Herath – 54 wickets:

After the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka would have ended up facing the spin bowling issues which Australia faced after the departure of Shane Warne. Fortunately, the Asian giants had Rangana Herath in the ranks. The reliable left-arm spinner, who had the experience and the skills to lead the spin bowling attack. The year was challenging and not an easy one.

It began with the tour of England which was a disaster for his team and the veteran too could not do much with the ball. Later, the home series against Australia and the tour of Zimbabwe arrived and this gave him the opportunity of taking heaps of wickets. Overall, he played in only 8 Tests this year and finished as the second highest wicket-taker with 54 wickets at a meagre average of just 17.53.

1. Ravichandran Ashwin – 73 wickets

Ravichandran Ashwin, the champion off-spinner, was in dominating form this year. It won’t be wrong to say that he acted as the biggest catalyst in most of the victories for the Indian secured the world No. 1 spot eventually. He was bowling in his own zone and targeted the best opposition batsman in most of the series Team India played and had the opponents on their knees at home.

To summarise, Ashwin snapped 73 wickets in just 12 matches at an average of 23.90 with a record breaking best bowling match figures of 13/140. These performances saw him leap ahead of everyone in the overall bowling charts, and then also become the top-ranked Test bowlers and also the top-ranked all-rounder. It also won him the ICC Test cricketer of the year and the Cricketer of the year awards.