Ravichandran Ashwin’s 6 for 46: Best bowling figures for India in Sri Lanka

Ravichandran Ashwin’s 6 for 46 in the first innings of the Galle Test against Sri Lanka were the best by an Indian in Sri Lanka. His match figures of 10 for 160 are the second-best by an Indian in the Sri Lanka. Bharath Seervi lists best innings and match figures for Indian in all overseas countries.

India dramatically lost the first of the three-Test series in Sri Lanka at Galle, but Ravichandran Ashwin established a few records. He claimed 6 for 46 in the first innings to dismiss Sri Lanka for 183 and had 4 for 114 in the second innings to finish the Test with 10 for 160. His first inning figures are the best by an Indian in test matches in Sri Lanka going past Harbhajan Singh’s 6 for 114 — at the same venue in 2008.

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With Ashwin holding the new record for the best innings figures by an Indian in tests in Sri Lanka, let us list the best figures by Indian in all the overseas countries.

Top two innings figures by Indians in tests in each of the overseas countries

–          Kapil Dev is the only Indian who has the best figures in two different countries – Australia and Pakistan.

–          Kapil and Irfan Pathan have the top two best figures in a country — in Pakistan and Zimbabwe respectively. They both achieved these figures in a single series — 1982-83 and 2005-06 respectively.

–          In the last tour to England, Ishant Sharma registered the best figures by an Indian in England. His figures of 7 for 74 at Lord’s produced a victory for the team. He broke the 78-year-old record of Amar Singh in England.

–          At present, the oldest record for the best innings figures by an Indian in an overseas country is Subhash Gupte’s 7 for 162 in West Indies. He holds the record since 1952-53 — more than 60 years!

–          The best figures in India are Anil Kumble’s 10/74 against Pakistan at Kotla in 1998-99.

Ashwin’s 10 for 160 in the Test just missed bettering Harbhajan Singh’s 10 for 153 in Sri Lanka. These are the best match figures for India in Sri Lanka. Let’s list the top two match figures by Indian in the overseas countries.

Top two match figures by Indians in tests in each of the overseas countries

–          Pakistan is the only country where no Indian has taken ten wickets — or even nine — in a Test. The best is Kapil’s 8 for 85.

–          Irfan has the top two figures in Zimbabwe.

–          The best match figures in India are 16 for 136 by Narendra Hirwani against West Indies at Chepauk in 1987-88 — on debut! The next best figures have also come at Chennai — 15 for 217 by Harbhajan against Australia in 2000-01.

–          The oldest record of the best match figures by an Indian in a particular country that still stands is EAS Prasanna’s 11 for 140 in New Zealand. It stands since 1975-76 — almost for forty years.

Bonus Trivia:

England, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are the countries where the best match figures have been by their countrymen. In the other rest six countries (Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) the best match figures have been by visitors.

In Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe the best innings figures have been by visitors and in the rest six countries their countrymen have the best innings figures.

The best innings figures in UAE are Saeed Ajmal’s 7 for 55 against England at Dubai in 2012. His 10 for 97 in the same Test are also the best match figures in UAE.

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at @SeerviBharath and on Facebook here)