Test cricket's most prolific bowler-fielder combinations

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Let’s take a few minutes to really appreciate some of the most prolific fielder and bowler combinations in Test cricket over the years.

The game of cricket can be all about partnerships – not necessarily in the classic sense between two bowlers or a pair of batters.

Here, we take a look at the most prolific bowler-fielder combinations in Test match cricket.

5. Shane Warne and Mark Taylor – 51 wickets

The Australian leg-spinner and captain combined for 51 wickets. A lot of saw Taylor pouching catches in the slips as Warne extracted vicious bounce and turn in conducive conditions.

Taylor had a remarkably safe pair of hands for an extended period – and Warne was always grateful to have his quest for catches behind the wicket obliged.

4. Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid – 51 wickets

Dravid was involved in two of the combinations on this list. Here, he was one half of 51 Test wickets taken by Harbhajan.

Like Taylor for Warne, Dravid snapped up a lot of these catches in the slips. As the captain, he would have been responsible for affording Singh a slip or two in the first place.

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3. Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid – 55 wickets

Like Warne and Taylor, here is another example of a leg-spinner and a slip catch combining in prolific fashion. Kumble and Dravid did this 55 times for India in Test cricket.

Remember, Dravid was also a superb complement to Harbhajan, but he was evidently and statistically stronger in combination with Kumble.

2. Nathan Lyon and Steven Smith – 58 wickets

Lyon and Smith recently overtook Kumble and Dravid’s tally of 55 with 58 of their own. Many of these have happened during intense Ashes series battles against England.

For now, they’re making them happen in the Border-Gavaskar Series in Australia. Lyon is a master at turning the ball away from batters and inducing edges for Smith to pocket.

1. Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardene – 71 wickets

With 13 more wickets than any other combination on this list, the former Sri Lanka spinner and captain combined for a resounding 71. Muralitharan was a veritable master at flummoxing batters with changes in pace, big bounce and a lot of turn.

Jayawardene was frequently at hand to add the finishing touches with his welcoming mitts in the slip cordon and surrounds.

And there you have the five most prolific fielder-bowler combinations in the history of Test cricket. The only one that is still going is the Lyon-Smith combo.

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