10 Greatest Bowling Performances of All Time in a Test Series

#8 Ravichandran Ashwin: 31 wickets at 11.13 vs South Africa (2015)

Ravichandran Ashwin

Heading into the 2015 series in India, South Africa were an exception in being a side that had actually found success in India. They had drawn their last two series there, showing the fighting spirit for which South African cricket had become renown. While the South African teams from the late 2000s and early 2010s did not dominate sides like the great Australian and West Indian teams before them, they had earned their status as the best Test side in the world by being notoriously difficult to beat. In fact, heading into the 2015 series against India, they had lost only two of their last 30 series, and had not lost an away series since 2006.

However, their four-match series in India saw them treated to a spin masterclass as Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja tore apart what had been one of the most reliable batting sides in recent years.

In their seven innings throughout the series, South Africa never scored more than 214 runs, which was remarkable for a side that included AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis.

Many of their woes can be attributed to them facing Ashwin while the off-spinner was in the middle of a brilliant run of form. From the start of 2015 to the end of 2016, he would take five 10-wicket hauls. Excluding Ashwin himself, only 10 other bowlers have had more 10 wicket hauls in their entire career.

The pitches may have been favorable to spin bowling, but Ashwin averaged nearly half of what Imran Tahir did for the series and less than half of what Simon Harper managed, showing he exploited conditions far better than his counterparts.

At times Ashwin was as close to as unplayable as a bowler in modern conditions could be. Stiaan van Zyl can attest to this as he was dismissed by Ahswin in all of the five innings he played in the series.

Over the decade preceding this series, South Africa rarely lost a game and almost never lost a series. Ashwin's dominance over the four matches didn't only secure a series win, but ended perhaps the most successful era in South African cricketing history.