#2 India – Matches- 17, Innings- 34, Wickets- 303, Avg/SR- 22.15/45.6, 5/10- 14/1
There is a reason why India has dominated Test cricket in teh latter part of the last decade, and that is because of the emergence of a world-class bowling unit. Whether it was home or away, Indian pacers and spinners managed to take wickets on a regular basis. The cycle started with Jasprit Bumrah wreaking havoc against the West Indies in the Caribbean followed by the complete dominance of the likes of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, R. Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja against South Africa and Bangladesh.
The only series in which Indian bowlers struggled was in early 2020 against New Zealand, and a major reason for that was the absence of Ishant in one of the two Tests and the fact that Bumrah was going through a rough patch. In Australia, even the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan announced themselves on the international stage
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Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Sharma were the bedrocks of the bowling unit throughout the cycle with the former ended up as India’s leading wicket-taker (67 wickets in 24 innings at 20.88) and the third-highest overall. Ishant, meanwhile, claimed 36 wickets in 20 innings at an average of 17.36. Overall, Indian bowlers claimed a total of 303 wickets in 160 innings and their average and strike rate of 22.15 and 45.6 respectively is the best among all participating teams.
#1 England – Matches- 21, Innings- 42, Wickets- 357, Avg/SR- 26.70/53.8, 5/10- 14/1
England started their Test Championship campaign against Australia on home soil where Stuart Broad and debutant Jofra Archer did the bulk of the damage in the absence of James Anderson. In South Africa, Mark Wood, Ben Stokes alongside Broad stepped up to the occasion and helped England claim 3-1 triumph. James Anderson was particularly brilliant in Sri Lanka and India, where he claimed wickets but hardly gave anything away.
England’s best bowler throughout the cycle was, undoubtedly, Stuart Broad as he claimed 69 wickets at an average of 20.o8. Jack Leach gave a good account of himself on spin-friendly tracks of Sri Lanka and India, and he ended up with 40 wickets in 18 innings at an average of 29.55. Overall, England claimed a total of 357 wickets across 21 Tests at an average of 26.70 and a strike rate of 53.8.
