4 best bowling figures by Indian spinners in Bangladesh

Indian cricket has always attached great importance to Tests. It is a matter of prestige in the cricketing community, regardless of how strong the opponent is. India are currently in the midst of their red-ball series in Bangladesh, whom they have a winning record against. Excluding the ongoing Test at Dhaka, they have recorded 7 wins and 2 draws in 9 Tests against the Bangladesh squad.

That winning record has been, in part, due to some incredible bowling performances, particularly by Indian spinners in the past. We take a look at the top 5 bowling performances by Indian spinners in Bangladesh in the longest format of the game.

#1 Kuldeep Yadav - 5/40, Chattogram 2022

Kuldeep Yadav made a comeback in the Indian Test team after more than a year. In the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, he was slotted in the playing XI as the third spinner after Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel.

Kuldeep bowled extremely well in tandem with the other bowlers. He got the big wickets of Shakib al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim in Bangladesh's first innings. He also cleaned up the tail, dismissing Taijul Islam and Ebadot Hossain.

This ensured that the hosts were never able to form partnerships in response to India's 404 in the first innings. India won the Test match by 188 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the 2-match series. Kuldeep was adjudged the Player of the Match for picking up another 3 wickets in the second innings along with a useful 40 in the first innings.

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#2 Ravichandran Ashwin - 5/87, Fatullah 2015

One of the greatest off-spinners of all time, Ravichandran Ashwin has taken 10 wickets in 5 innings on Bangladesh soil. He averages 28 runs per dismissal and takes a wicket every 9 overs.

His best performance against the Tigers came in a one-off Test in 2015. The visitors scored 462/6 in the first innings. In response, the hosts were all-out for only 256 runs in their first innings. Ashwin was the chief destructor in the innings.

The wily off-spinner took some big scalps - Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib al Hasan and Liton Das. He also dismissed Shuvagata Hom. This bowling performance ensured that the visitors were able to enforce a follow-on. However, the game ended in a draw because of the rain.

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#3 Sunil Joshi - 5/142, Dhaka 2000

The left-arm spinner from Hubli, Karnataka represented the country in 15 matches from 1996 to 2000. He was a part of the playing XI when India toured Bangladesh for the first time in Test cricket.

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. Joshi bowled the most overs in the innings (45.3) for his five-wicket haul and became the first Indian to achieve this feat in the neighbouring country. He took top-order wickets and cleaned up the tail.

Joshi took another 3 wickets in the second innings and scored a vital 92 batting at number 8. India won the game by 9 wickets and he was adjudged the Player of the Match.

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#4 Anil Kumble - 4/55, Chattogram 2004

Former Test captain Anil Kumble remains the third-highest wicket-taking spinner of all time. He picked up 619 wickets in an illustrious career spanning 18 years and 132 matches. His best performance against the neighbours came on India's tour in 2004.

India won the toss and scored 540 runs as Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid scored centuries. In response, Bangladesh scored 333 runs which were clearly not enough. The leg-spinner was the pick of the bowlers, he dismissing 4 of the batters in the top 6.

Kumble's spell was pivotal in India enforcing a follow-on. They dismissed the hosts for just 124 runs in the 3rd innings and clinched the Test series 2-0.

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That concludes our list of great India spinner performances against Bangladesh in Test cricket. The ongoing match in Mirpur might produce another spin masterclass, with Ashwin securing 4 wickets already.

He was able to extract turn and bounce from the wicket on the very first day. In the last 7 years, Ashwin has been the highest wicket-taker in the world on Day 1 of a Test match.