5 Indians with 50+ wickets in all three formats ft. Kuldeep YadavÂ
Team India enjoyed a dominating start to the ongoing fifth Test match against England at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. Day 1 saw India bundle out the visitors for 218 before piling up 135/1 by the end of day's play.
At the stroke of Tea on Day 2, the Indian batters have stretched the team's lead to 158 runs and would look to bat England out of the Test.
The majority of India's success on the opening day certainly goes to Kuldeep Yadav, who spun a web around the English batters and dished out a remarkable display of spin bowling. After England were 100/1, Kuldeep got into his own and turned the tide in India's favor.
On a track where the ball was coming onto the bat at a great speed, Kuldeep extracted huge turn. The rhythm in his stride was there to see as the left-armer bagged a magnificent fifer (5/72).
In doing so, Kuldeep also reached the landmark of completing his 50 wickets in Test matches. He is now only the fifth Indian to bag at least 50 scalps in all three formats.
On that note, let's take a look at all the five Indians who have taken 50+ wickets across all three international formats.
#5 Ravichandran Ashwin
Currently inundated with praise for his 100th Test match, Ravichandran Ashwin was the first Indian to complete the landmark of getting 50 wickets in all three formats.
The wily spinner had his first shot at success during his early days with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He was then fast-tracked into the Indian side and played a crucial role in all three formats for years to come.
While Harbhajan Singh was in the twilight of his career, India smoothly transitioned Ashwin into the side.
Ashwin was part of the Indian team in both white-ball formats from his debut in 2010 to 2017.
While he was dropped from the team following the Champions Trophy 2017, he made a comeback during the T20 World Cup 2022 and the ODI World Cup 2023. In total, Ashwin has bagged 156 ODI wickets and 72 T20I wickets.
The Tamil Nadu-born player has been a perennial force to be reckoned with in Tests. He is India's second-highest wicket-taker ever in the format, with 511 scalps in just 188 innings.
#4 Ravindra Jadeja
Similar to Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja has also been a mainstay in the Indian setup across all three formats. The left-arm tweaker has been playing for India since 15 years now, having made his international debut in 2009.
Although he was merely a rookie in his early days, Jadeja soon went on to become the first-choice all-rounder for India in all three formats.
A reinvention in his batting saw Jadeja get a permanent spot in the Indian Test side even in overseas conditions. The blazing all-rounder has been one of the first names in the Indian team sheet and has been a superb contributor across formats.
Alongside his 6,257 runs, Jadeja has bagged a total of 566 wickets for India in international cricket. He has 53 scalps in 62 T20Is, with 220 wickets in 197 ODI matches. In Tests, the 35-year-old has taken 293 wickets at an average of 24.13 across 72 games.
#3 Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar made his international debut in all three formats in a span of just two months. The right-armer had a superlative debut series against Pakistan, where he impressed everyone with a superb presentation of swing movement.
Bhuvneshwar quickly went on to become a reliable option for the Men in Blue as he bowled with discipline and had a variety of variations under his sleeves.
Just like every other pacer, Bhuvneshwar also had to sit out due to a number of injuries. He is also currently out of the schemes of the selectors after enduring bad patches of form and has not featured for India since 2022.
Interestingly, Bhuvneshwar is India's highest wicket-taking pacer in T20Is with 90 scalps in 86 innings. He has taken 63 and 141 wickets in Tests and ODIs, respectively.
#2 Jasprit Bumrah
Undoubtedly one of the best bowlers of his generation, Jasprit Bumrah is only the second Indian pacer to feature on this list. The charismatic fast bowler is renowned for his lethal bowling, and has been India's go-to bowler in any situation of the game.
He is one of those few all-format pacers who has been impactful wherever and whenever he has bowled. The 30-year-old pacer is also having a wonderful ongoing Test series against England, where he has bagged 17 wickets at an immaculate average of 16.65. The next best pacer in the series is James Anderson, who has taken nine wickets at 37.11.
It is incredible to know that no Indian fast bowler has taken more wickets than Bumrah's 380 scalps since his debut in January 2016. Bumrah has taken 157 scalps in Tests as compared to 149 in ODIs and 74 in T20 internationals.
#1 Kuldeep Yadav
The latest entrant on the list, Kuldeep Yadav, achieved the feat of completing 50+ wickets in all three formats during the first innings of the Dharamsala Test against England. He wreaked havoc with his sorcery of wrist spin and claimed his eighth international fifer.
Despite making his Test debut in 2017, Kuldeep has played only 12 red-ball matches thus far. He has taken 51 wickets at an average of 21.10 in those games.
His white-ball career also took a hit after 2018 when he slipped under the radar due to lack of form. He even endured a knee surgery in 2021.
However, the 29-year-old made a remarkable comeback in 2022, making himself one of the most exciting spinners to watch out for. In fact, he has taken 104 wickets at an outstanding strike rate of 26.6 across 55 international matches since 2022. This is the second-best by an Indian bowlers after Mohammed Siraj's 114 wickets.
Kuldeep has taken more than 60 percent of his career wickets in ODIs (168 wickets). In T20Is, he has bagged 59 scalps in only 35 matches. Kuldeep is now also the fastest Indian to take 50 Test wickets (in balls). He took 1,871 balls to achieve the landmark, better than Axar Patel's 2,205 balls.
In total, he has mustered 51 wickets in 21 Test innings so far.