India vs South Africa 2019: Top 5 bowlers with most wickets in Tests in India
Apart from Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal's heroics with the bat, the Visakhapatnam Test also saw some brilliant performances by India's bowlers against South Africa. The 203-run win for the hosts saw off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claiming a total of 8 wickets, the last of which saw him equal Muttiah Muralitharan's record for the fastest bowler to reach 350 wickets. He got to the landmark in 66 Tests.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja also had a good game, picking up six wickets in the match, including three in one over on the last day of the Test. Jadeja also had a record-breaking game, becoming the quickest left-arm bowler to reach 200 Test wickets. He reached the landmark in 44 Tests, overtaking Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath who took 47 Tests for the same feat.
Both Ashwin and Jadeja have tasted excellent success against South Africa in home conditions.
On that note, we take a look at the top five bowlers with most wickets in India versus South Africa Tests played in India.
#5. Dale Steyn
For fast bowlers across the world, the pitches of India have proved to be graveyards. Not for Dale Steyn though. He is someone who could make a mark irrespective of the surface, with the pace he generated and his nagging accuracy. This is exactly what Dale Steyn did in India, where he produced a couple of fantastic spells of fast bowling. He is the highest wicket-taker for South Africa in India, with 26 wickets in six games at an average of 21.38, with two five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket match haul.
Steyn’s standout performance came in the Nagpur Test in February 2010. His 7 for 51 saw India collapse from 221 for 4 to 233 all out after Hashim Amla’s 253 not out and Jacques Kallis’ 173 enabled South Africa to post 558 for 6 declared. Steyn added another three wickets in the second innings to finish with 10 wickets as South Africa won by an innings and six runs.
The South African speedster also claimed 5 for 23 in the Ahmedabad Test of April 2008 as India embarrassingly crumbled to 76 all out. Steyn’s victims in the innings included big guns Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid. After AB de Villiers’ unbeaten 217, Steyn dismissed India’s second-innings top scorer Sourav Ganguly for 87 and polished off the tail as South Africa won by a handsome margin of an innings and 90 runs.
Also see -IND vs BAN schedule 2019