Top 3 bowling performances by Indian spinners in Test cricket

In just his second Test, Axar Patel has had a terrific outing in Ahmedabad against England. The left-arm spinner returned with figures of 11-70, helping the hosts trounce England for their lowest ever score (81) in Indian conditions. The pitch played its role to an extent, but one cannot take away Patel's immaculate control of his line, length, and pace.

The 27-year-old might have terrific bowling figures, but they're not close to the top 3 performances by Indian spinners in Test cricket.

Leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani holds the record for the best-ever figures by an Indian bowler in a Test match: 16-135 against West Indies in 1988, picking eight wickets in each innings.

His feat sounds impressive, but what takes the cake is that Hirwani was on debut when he ran through the West Indies line-up at Chennai. The 19-year-old also accounted for the wicket of West Indies skipper Vivian Richards in both the innings.

#OnThisDay in 1988, Narendra Hirwani’s Test career got off to a dream start against West Indies in Chennai. The Indian leg-spinner took eight wickets in each innings and finished with match figures of 16/136 🔥 pic.twitter.com/54UvDRtJda

— ICC (@ICC) January 15, 2021

Top 3 bowling figures by Indian spinners in Test

Narendra Hirwani vs West Indies 16-136 (1988)

Harbhajan Singh vs Australia 15-217 (2001)

Jasubhai Patel vs Australia 14-124 (1959)

Unsurprisingly, all three performance have come in home conditions for the Indian spinners. Hirwani and Harbhajan Singh achieved the feat at Chennai, a ground well known for its prodigious turn.

Harbhajan Singh tormented Australia in the 2001 Border-Gavaskar series. The Indian off-spinner managed figures of 15-217 in the third and final Test in Chennai, which India won by 2 wickets, clinching the series by a 2-1 margin.

But it's hard to believe that the second-best figures by an Indian bowler in Tests wasn't good enough to get him the Man of the Match award. That prize went to Matthew Hayden in the Chennai Test for his double ton in the first innings. Nevertheless, Harbhajan was the Man of the Series for claiming 32 wickets in 3 Tests, at an unheard average of 17.03.

Happy birthday to one of India's finest spinners, Harbhajan Singh!4️⃣1️⃣7️⃣ Test wickets2️⃣6️⃣9️⃣ ODI wickets2️⃣5️⃣ T20I wicketsAn outstanding record 👏 pic.twitter.com/LkungYV5db

— ICC (@ICC) July 3, 2019

Finally, there was Jasubhai Patel, the off-spinner who only played seven Tests in his career. Patel took 14-124 in Kanpur, helping India win by 119 runs against Australia.

The off-spinner took 9-69 in the first innings, which stood as the best bowling figure in a Test innings by an Indian bowler, until Anil Kumble took 10 for 74 almost 40 years later against Pakistan. Patel's heroics helped India to win their first-ever Test match against Australia.