Ranking India's top 5 Test bowlers of 2024 ft. R Ashwin

2024 has been a tough year for the Indian cricket team in Test cricket. After their 0-3 home series whitewash defeat against New Zealand, the Australian tour has also proved to be challenging.

They began the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 series with a win in the first Test. However, they lost the next Test in Adelaide. They barely managed to draw the third Test in Brisbane and faced another alarming defeat in Melbourne.

With the series 2-1 in favor of Australia, India will head to the final Test in Sydney with the hope of drawing the series. Their chances of making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final also appear bleak now.

However, there have been performances throughout the year for the fans to cheer upon. As the team has played its final Test of the year, let us take a look at the top five bowlers for India in Tests in 2024.

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Ranking India's top 5 Test bowlers of 2024

#5 Kuldeep Yadav

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav may not have had an incredible year in Tests from the outset, but he managed to pick up 22 wickets from five matches and 10 innings. He averaged 23.09 with an economy rate of 3.74.

Kuldeep picked up one four-wicket and five-wicket haul with best figures of 5/72. He had a successful series against England. However, due to a chronic left groin issue, the spinner missed out and was not named in the squad for the BGT 2024-25 series.

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#4 Mohammed Siraj

With Mohammed Shami missing out majorly, pacer Mohammed Siraj took on a more challenging role this year. For most, he played as the second lead pacer alongside Jasprit Bumrah. Siraj has blown hot and cold this year, not able to maintain the consistency he would have desired to.

Yet, he finishes the year as India's fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests with 35 scalps from 13 games at an average of 30.82 and best figures of 6/15. In the ongoing BGT 2024-25 series, he has grabbed 16 wickets from four games so far and is the third-highest wicket-taker after Bumrah and Pat Cummins.

While he failed to pick up a wicket in the first innings of the Melbourne Test, he came back strong to bag three in the second innings.

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#3 Ravichandran Ashwin

All-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket after the Brisbane Test, finished the year with 47 Test wickets. Picking up these wickets across 11 games, he averaged 27.25 with 1 four-wicket and 3 five-wicket hauls.

Ashwin ended his career with 537 Test wickets and is the second-highest wicket-taker in the format for India. He is only behind Anil Kumble, who has 619 Test wickets.

Despite bidding goodbye, the off-spinner put up a decent display, ending the year as the third-highest wicket-taker for the country in Tests with his 47 dismissals.

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#2 Ravindra Jadeja

Ashwin's partner-in-crime for several years in Tests now, Ravindra Jadeja also features on the list. The left-arm spinner managed to pick up 48 wickets from 12 matches this year.

Jadeja maintained an average of 24.29, grabbing one four-wicket and three five-wicket hauls with best figures of 5/41. With just one wicket more than Ashwin, he ended the year as India's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests in 2024.

This year, he also surpassed Ishant Sharma to become India's fifth-highest wicket-taker in Tests overall. Jadeja now has 323 wickets from 79 matches and is only behind Harbhajan Singh, Kapil Dev, Ashwin, and Kumble.

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#1 Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah has undoubtedly been not just India's but the best bowler in the world in Tests in 2024. He is the highest wicket-taker this year overall with 71 scalps at an average of 14.91 with 4 four-wicket and 5 five-wicket hauls from 13 matches.

Bumrah also performed exceptionally well in the Melbourne Test despite Rohit Sharma and Co's defeat. He scalped a total of nine wickets across the two innings. The speedster also became the fastest Indian bowler to pick up 200 Test wickets.

Given his brilliant and consistent performances throughout the year, he has also been nominated for the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year 2024.