Top 3 Indian bowlers with the most overseas wickets in a single calendar year

When you talk about Indian cricket, you talk about the precocious talent of their batters and their wristy stroke-play that leaves the fans as well as pundits in awe. You also talk about their spinners who spin a web around the opposition batsmen and bamboozle them with a plethora of tricks.

But seldom do we talk about India's pace unit as a whole - at least not in the same breath with the best pace attacks of the world. This has been the Achilles' heel of most Indian teams in the past. The inability of their fast bowlers to perform consistently overseas has constantly hampered their chances of closing out Test wins despite being in positions of strength for considerable periods of time.

In the past few years though, the change in attitude towards fast bowling and meticulous attention towards fitness has seen the strength of India's fast bowling attack rise steadily.

The year 2018 saw the stock of the country's pace attack rise to the hilt as the Indian troika of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma took over the lead role from their famed batting group to ensnare 136 wickets between them.

In this article, we will have a look at three Indian bowlers who have taken the highest number of wickets overseas in a calendar year:

#3 Anil Kumble [41, 2006]

The biggest match-winner, Anil Kumble

Perhaps the greatest match-winner India has ever seen, Anil Kumble was at the peak of his powers in 2006. In nine overseas Tests across Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa, 'Jumbo' claimed 41 wickets.

While he did not have a particularly good time bowling on flat decks in Pakistan [9 wickets at 69.88], Kumble played a pivotal role in India winning their first Test series in the West Indies since 1971 and also their maiden Test win in South Africa at Johannesburg.

In four Tests in the Caribbean, Kumble claimed 23 wickets at 28.60. He backed that up with 11 scalps across two Tests in the rainbow nation.

#2 Mohammed Shami [47, 2018]

The second-innings specialist Mohammed Shami

You can call him temperamental, you can call him a slow starter. But when he's on song there's no better sight than Mohammed Shami running in and bamboozling the batsmen with searing pace and accuracy.

With 43 wickets in 11 overseas Tests this year, Shami stands just behind Jasprit Bumrah as the second highest wicket-taker for India in overseas Tests in a single calendar year. What makes Shami's achievement even more significant is that a big chunk of his wickets have come in the second innings - the time of the game when conditions favor the spinners more than the seamers.

Shami averages 25.22 and 22.62 in the third and fourth innings respectively, and has produced several game-changing spells for India in the year gone by. While his 5-28 helped India script a memorable win on a snake pit at the Wanderers, his six-wicket haul at Perth was a spell for the ages as he terrorized all batsmen with raw pace and accuracy.

#1 Jasprit Bumrah [48, 2018]

The find of 2018 - Jasprit Bumrah

He had played just 26 first class games when Virat Kohli and the team management decided to hand Jasprit Bumrah his maiden Test cap at the beginning of this year, in Newlands.

It was a contentious decision at the time; many thought playing Bumrah ahead of Ishant Sharma was a mistake. But as 2018 meandered to its end, it started looking like the best decision that the management took in what has been a year of shoddy team selections.

Bumrah played a defining role in three of the four overseas wins that India had in 2018 - Johannesburg, Trent Bridge and Melbourne. He claimed a five-wicket haul at both Wanderers [5-55] and Nottingham, and put India on the path of a series-defining victory at the MCG with a six-for.

On a pitch where a wicket fell every 25 overs during the first two days, Bumrah claimed career-best figures of 6-33 to skittle Australia out for 151 in the first innings. In the process, he became the first Asian bowler to snag a 5-wicket haul in South Africa, England and Australia in the same calendar year.