3 Indian bowlers with the most ODI wickets in a calendar year
India have always been blessed with world-class bowlers, especially spinners, but most of them haven't been able to replicate their Test performances in ODI cricket.
Anil Kumble is India's leading wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, but he barely makes the top 10 on the list of the world's highest ODI wicket-takers. Moreover, Jumbo is almost 200 wickets behind the first-placed Muttiah Muralitharan.
Other greats of the game like Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath have had excellent careers for India in white-ball cricket, but have never taken more than 40 wickets in a calendar year in ODIs.
The list of highest wicket-takers in a calendar year is dominated by spinners, with Saqlain Mushtaq (twice), Saeed Ajmal and Shane Warne making up the top 4. Unsurprisingly, two Indian spinners make this list as well.
With more cricket being played nowadays, we might soon see new entrants on this list. But for now, let's take a look at the 3 Indian bowlers with the most ODI wickets in a calendar year.
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#3 Ravindra Jadeja (52 wickets in 2013)
In the year 2013, Ravindra Jadeja picked up 52 wickets in 34 games to become India's third-highest wicket-taker in a calendar year. The wily left-arm spinner bowled over 303 overs with that unmistakable metronomic accuracy of his, and managed an unbelievable economy rate of 4.35 in the year.
The crowning moment of Jadeja's 2013 was India's Champions Trophy campaign, in which he won the Golden Ball after finishing the tournament as the highest wicket-taker with 12 scalps. In August of the same year, the Chennai Super Kings man reached #1 on the ICC ODI bowling rankings, becoming only the fourth Indian to achieve the distinction.
Since 2013, Jadeja has been in and out of the ODI side, but played the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. Recently, the 31-year-old seems to have established his place in all three formats for India and is definitely one of the Men in Blue's key players.
With the international cricket calendar likely to become more intense owing to the pandemic-enforced break, we could see Jadeja scalp more than 52 wickets in a calendar year in the near future.
#2 Ajit Agarkar (58 wickets in 1998)
Ajit Agarkar made his debut only in April but managed to finish 1998 with 58 wickets, making him the Indian bowler with the second-most wickets in a calendar year.
The pacer played 30 games for India, and bowled around 269 overs at an economy rate of 5.12. Agarkar enjoyed success against Australia, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, picking up 10, 14 and 11 wickets respectively.
Agarkar registered best figures of 4/35 in 1998, and became the fastest bowler (at the time) to achieve the milestone of 50 ODI wickets. The former Kolkata Knight Riders seamer is India's 3rd highest wicket-taker in ODIs, a record that is unlikely to be broken in the near future at least.
#1 Anil Kumble (61 wickets in 1996)
In the year 1996, the legendary Anil Kumble picked up 61 wickets, which is the 5th highest number of ODI wickets by any bowler in a calendar year. The leg-spinner played 32 games for India, over the course of which he bowled around 304 overs.
Kumble delivered 16 maidens while conceding 1235 runs, which amounts to an impressive economy rate of 4.06. In the 1996 World Cup, the Karnataka spinner picked up 15 wickets to finish as the tournament's leading wicket-taker, along with three 3-wicket hauls to his name.
India's leading wicket-taker in Test cricket was also the man with the most scalps across formats in the calendar year, with 90 in Tests and ODIs combined. Understandably, Kumble topped the ICC ODI bowling rankings in 1996 and became only the fourth Indian to achieve the feat.
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