The best bowling pairs in a season
Ashwin and Jadeja took 153 wickets in the 13 Tests they played in 2016-17. A look at other bowling pairs who excelled in a season

Ashwin and Jadeja took 36 more wickets than the next best in a single Test season • ESPNcricinfo Ltd
season | Tests | Bowler1 (wkts) | Average | Bowler2 (wkts) | Average | Tot wkts | Average | % team wkts^ |
2016/17 | 13 | R Ashwin (82) | 25.28 | Ravindra Jadeja (71) | 22.83 | 153 | 24.14 | 63.8 |
1998/99 | 11 | Stuart MacGill (54) | 23.00 | Glenn McGrath (63) | 20.00 | 117 | 21.38 | 63.9 |
2005/06 | 12 | Shane Warne (62) | 26.16 | Brett Lee (52) | 27.15 | 114 | 26.61 | 50.0 |
2004/05 | 11 | Glenn McGrath (56) | 18.20 | Shane Warne (56) | 25.95 | 112 | 22.07 | 57.1 |
1979/80 | 13 | Kapil Dev (63) | 20.25 | Dilip Doshi (46) | 26.15 | 109 | 22.74 | 56.2 |
2004/05 | 9 | Harbhajan Singh (48) | 27.25 | Anil Kumble (55) | 25.27 | 103 | 26.19 | 64.8 |
2004/05 | 12 | Glenn McGrath (59) | 18.36 | Jason Gillespie (42) | 25.76 | 101 | 21.44 | 46.8 |
1983/84 | 9 | Malcolm Marshall (52) | 18.37 | Michael Holding (43) | 21.12 | 95 | 19.61 | 59.7 |
2004/05 | 11 | Shane Warne (56) | 25.95 | Jason Gillespie (38) | 26.47 | 94 | 26.16 | 48.0 |
1978/79 | 8 | Rodney Hogg (51) | 15.37 | Alan Hurst (40) | 22.55 | 91 | 18.53 | 66.4 |
1999/00 | 10 | Shane Warne (41) | 30.63 | Glenn McGrath (50) | 20.00 | 91 | 24.79 | 48.4 |
^ % of team's bowler wickets taken by the pair
Bowler1 (wkts) | Ave | Bowler2 (wkts) | Ave | Comb ave | Oth wkts | Oth ave | Diff | season |
Rodney Hogg (51) | 15.37 | Alan Hurst (40) | 22.55 | 18.53 | 46 | 39.70 | -21.17 | 1978/79 |
Shaun Pollock (37) | 27.57 | Makhaya Ntini (40) | 29.60 | 28.62 | 66 | 47.32 | -18.69 | 2003/04 |
Graham McKenzie (42) | 24.74 | Neil Hawke (36) | 23.61 | 24.22 | 66 | 41.89 | -17.68 | 1964/65 |
Stuart MacGill (54) | 23.00 | Glenn McGrath (63) | 20.00 | 21.38 | 66 | 37.65 | -16.27 | 1998/99 |
Kapil Dev (63) | 20.25 | Dilip Doshi (46) | 26.15 | 22.74 | 85 | 37.87 | -15.13 | 1979/80 |
Wayne Clark (43) | 27.02 | Jeff Thomson (39) | 25.08 | 26.10 | 64 | 40.59 | -14.50 | 1977/78 |
Dennis Lillee (38) | 21.89 | Bruce Yardley (51) | 22.67 | 22.34 | 53 | 35.55 | -13.21 | 1981/82 |
Malcolm Marshall (52) | 18.37 | Michael Holding (43) | 21.12 | 19.61 | 64 | 32.66 | -13.05 | 1983/84 |
Shane Warne (37) | 24.41 | Craig McDermott (39) | 25.72 | 25.08 | 52 | 37.88 | -12.81 | 1994/95 |
Peter Pollock (40) | 24.20 | Joe Partridge (38) | 28.42 | 26.26 | 53 | 38.15 | -11.89 | 1963/64 |
Shaun Pollock (34) | 23.76 | Allan Donald (49) | 19.57 | 21.29 | 67 | 33.12 | -11.83 | 1997/98 |
Harbhajan Singh (48) | 27.25 | Anil Kumble (55) | 25.27 | 26.19 | 56 | 37.79 | -11.59 | 2004/05 |
R Ashwin (82) | 25.28 | Ravindra Jadeja (71) | 22.83 | 24.14 | 87 | 35.08 | -10.94 | 2016/17 |
Bowler 1 | Wkts | Ave | Bowler 2 | Wkt | Ave | Tot wkts | Comb ave | Season |
R Ashwin | 56 | 20.21 | Ravindra Jadeja | 39 | 23.95 | 95 | 21.75 | 2016/17 |
Anil Kumble | 37 | 22.70 | Harbhajan Singh | 31 | 25.10 | 68 | 23.79 | 2004/05 |
Saeed Ajmal | 35 | 14.69 | Abdur Rehman | 28 | 18.68 | 63 | 16.46 | 2011/12 |
Jason Gillespie | 28 | 22.57 | Glenn McGrath | 29 | 16.55 | 57 | 19.51 | 2004/05 |
Dale Steyn | 35 | 14.83 | Makhaya Ntini | 19 | 30.68 | 54 | 20.41 | 2007/08 |
S Rajesh is stats editor of ESPNcricinfo. @rajeshstats
Shiva Jayaraman is a senior stats analyst at ESPNcricinfo @shiva_cricinfo