One of the most remarkable and rare feats in cricket is a bowler picking all 10 wickets in an innings. Since cricket is a team game, it takes effort from all the players involved to give their best to the side, be it with bat or ball. So everyone on the team will be eager to step up to the plate and perform, more so in a competitive environment such as India. Hence, it takes a great deal of energy, persistence, skill, and endurance from a player to achieve a personal goal such as claiming an inning ten-fer.
The fact that only 77 cricketers in the history of the sport have taken 10 wickets in an inning speaks volumes about this feat. There have been 6 Indian bowlers who achieved this spell-bounding milestone in the First-Class Cricket, and here is the list.
Premansu Chatterjee (10/20) – Bengal vs Assam (1956-57)
The first-ever instance of an Indian bowler picking all 10 wickets in a Ranji Trophy game was the left-arm pacer from Bengal Premansu Chatterjee. Playing for Bengal in a Ranji fixture at Jorhat during the 1956/57 season, Premansu picked all the 10 wickets to fall in Assam’s first innings. The hosts, Assam, were bundled out for a mere 55 runs, and Premansu returned with figures of 10/20 from his 19 overs. Though he didn’t pick a wicket in the second inning (245), Bengal cruised to an innings victory by a margin of 206 runs.
This remains the best figure by an Indian bowler in all of first-class cricket, and Premansu Chatterjee will be etched in memory as the first Indian to pick a 10-wicket haul in an innings.
Debasis Mohanty (10/46) – East Zone vs South Zone (2000-01)
The former Odisha pacer holds the second-best figures for an Indian bowler in first-class history courtesy of the havoc he created in a Duleep Trophy game at Agartala while representing East Zone against South Zone. After opting to bat first, South Zone, which included Indian international batters like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, fell to the swing and seam of Debasis Mohanty.
The pacer who represented India at the highest level picked all 10 wickets, conceding just 46 runs in his 19 overs, and helped East Zone to keep their South counterparts total to 113. East Zone gained a marginal 13-run lead, and Mohanty backed up by picking 4/45 in the second inning (177). In the end, East Zone won a thriller by chasing down 167 with 4 wickets to spare.
Anshul Kamboj (10/49) – Haryana vs Kerala (2024-25)
Anshul Kamboj, the newest bowling sensation in India, became the latest to join this elite list when he bagged a 10-wicket haul against Kerala in a 2024/25 Ranji Trophy fixture. Playing for Haryana, Anshul picked all 10 wickets to fall in Kerala’s first innings, even as the visitors amassed 291 Rohtak. Aside from his heroic effort, Haryana (164 all out in the first inning) remained behind the eight-ball, and it was only due to rain that the hosts could get through with a draw. Nevertheless, Anshul Kamboj became one of the few cricketers in the world to achieve this extraordinary feat in a first-class innings.
Anil Kumble (10/74) – India vs Pakistan (1999)
The only instance of an Indian player taking all ten wickets in an inning in a Test match was by Anil Kumble. The legendary spinner was at his best in this Test match in Delhi against their arch-rivals Pakistan. India scored 252 runs in the first inning and gained an 80-run lead courtesy of Kumble’s 4/75. Hosts India extended the lead further and set Pakistan an improbable 420 runs to win the Test match.
Then it was the Kumble show on the fourth day of the Test match as he ran through the Pakistani batters one by one and claimed all the 10 wickets. He ended with astonishing figures of 10/74 and became the only bowler after Jim Laker to pick all 10 wickets in an inning.
Pradeep Sunderam (10/78 ) – Rajasthan vs Vidarbha (1985-86)
In the 1985/86 Ranji Trophy season, Pradeep Sunderam became part of the tournament’s rich history as he was the second bowler to pick all the wickets in an innings. The medium pacer representing Rajasthan claimed 10/78 in Vidharbha’s first innings and followed up with 6/76 in the second innings. His record stood as the best bowling figure (16/154) in a Ranji Trophy game, until broken by Anil Kumble a few years later.
Subhash Gupte (10/78) – Bombay vs Pakistan Combined Services and Bahawalpur XI (1954-55)
The legendary spinner became the first bowler from India to scalp all 10 wickets in a first-class innings, and he did so against Pakistan Combined Services and Bahawalpur XI while playing for Bombay. Subash Gupte, a renowned leg spinner, bamboozled the visiting team by picking 10/78 in an inning, and his record stood until it was broken by Premansu Chatterjee a couple of years later.
While the above-mentioned players are all Indians, there are 2 instances of a bowler taking all 10 wickets in an innings in India. They are Australia’s Francis Tarrant, who picked 10/90 while playing for Maharaja of Cooch Behar’s XI against Lord Willingdon’s XI in 1918/19, and New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel (10/119) against India in Mumbai 2021/22. It should be noted that Patel’s 10-wicket haul came in a Test match.
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