High-fives: Bowlers with most 5-W hauls on both innings

Bowling in Test cricket is one of the toughest tasks ever as a bowler has to hit consistent lines and lengths and set the batter up over a period of long spells. Picking wickets is a herculean task in the longest format as the batter has ample time to get used to the line and lengths of the bowler and is under no pressure to score runs quickly. However, despite that, there have been few bowlers who have managed to trouble batters time and again and have been equally successful in both innings of a Test. On that note, let’s take a look at the top three bowlers with five or more wickets in both innings of a Test most often:

3 Ravichandran Ashwin and Sydney Barnes (6 times)

Ravichandran Ashwin is arguably the best spinner in world cricket in the modern era as he has proven his mettle all over the world in recent times. Ashwin has 486 wickets to his name from 93 matches at an average of 23.61 with 34 five-wicket hauls to his name. Out of those 34, twelve have come in six matches where Ashwin picked five-wicket haul in each innings. Apart from Ashwin, England’s Sydney Barnes also achieved the feat six times in his 27-match-long career.

2 Rangana Herath (8 times)

Rangana Herath is touted as the second-greatest spinner produced by Sri Lanka. The left-arm spinner has 433 wickets to his name from 93 matches at an average of 28.07 with 34 five-wicket hauls. Herath picked five-wicket haul in both innings eight times in his career, making him rank second on the list.

1 Muttiah Muralitharan (11 times)

Arguably the greatest spinner ever Muttiah Muralitharan unsurprisingly sits on top of several bowling records and this one is no exception. The legendary Sri Lankan spinner has a world record of 800 wickets to his name in Tests and 67 five-wicket hauls. He picked five-wicket hauls in both innings 11 times in his career making him rank first on the list.