The following table furnishes the Indian pace bowler’s performance – teamwise and seasonwise – in a three test away series. Indian pacers captured 50 wickets in the just concluded test series against South Africa. It is the most taken by Indian pace bowlers in a three test away series. The previous best was 41 wickets against England in 1986, South Africa in 1996-97,  England in 2007 and Australia in 2014-15

This detailed article is prepared at the behest of my childhood friend and also my neighbor Sri Murali Parvathavani who asked me today morning on facebook regarding the performance of Indian pace bowlers. Read on …………

Player	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Away Series	Season
CR Rangachari	2	2	464	238	4	Australia	1947/48
SW Sohoni	1	1	184	81	0	Australia	1947/48
					4	Australia	1947/48
UN Kulkarni	3	6	370	200	5	Australia	1967/68
V Subramanya	2	3	48	37	0	Australia	1967/68
RB Desai	1	1	96	63	0	Australia	1967/68
					5	Australia	1967/68
KD Ghavri	3	6	524	271	11	Australia	1977/78
S Madan Lal	2	4	440	197	9	Australia	1977/78
					20	Australia	1977/78
KD Ghavri	3	5	690	370	10	Australia	1980/81
N Kapil Dev	3	5	725	333	14	Australia	1980/81
SM Patil	3	2	87	33	2	Australia	1980/81
RMH Binny	1	1	90	70	0	Australia	1980/81
					26	Australia	1980/81
M Amarnath	3	2	36	18	0	Australia	1985/86
N Kapil Dev	3	6	708	276	12	Australia	1985/86
RMH Binny	2	2	162	67	1	Australia	1985/86
C Sharma	2	4	222	128	0	Australia	1985/86
					13	Australia	1985/86
ST Banerjee	1	1	108	47	3	Australia	1991/92
					3	Australia	1991/92
AB Agarkar	3	5	648	351	11	Australia	1999/00
SC Ganguly	3	3	126	90	2	Australia	1999/00
BKV Prasad	3	5	639	356	7	Australia	1999/00
J Srinath	3	5	756	461	10	Australia	1999/00
					30	Australia	1999/00
A Nehra	3	6	606	382	4	Australia	2003/04
Z Khan	2	3	306	213	5	Australia	2003/04
IK Pathan	2	4	408	266	4	Australia	2003/04
					13	Australia	2003/04
I Sharma	3	5	606	358	6	Australia	2007/08
IK Pathan	2	3	414	229	8	Australia	2007/08
Z Khan	1	2	262	187	5	Australia	2007/08
					19	Australia	2007/08
R Vinay Kumar	1	1	78	73	1	Australia	2011/12
					1	Australia	2011/12
Mohammed Shami	3	6	759	537	15	Australia	2014/15
I Sharma	3	6	750	434	9	Australia	2014/15
UT Yadav	3	6	711	548	11	Australia	2014/15
VR Aaron	2	4	385	362	5	Australia	2014/15
B Kumar	1	2	252	168	1	Australia	2014/15
					41	Australia	2014/15
Player	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Away Series	Season
AB Agarkar	1	2	252	84	4	Bangladesh	2000/01
Z Khan	1	2	156	69	3	Bangladesh	2000/01
J Srinath	1	2	198	66	3	Bangladesh	2000/01
					10	Bangladesh	2000/01
SC Ganguly	2	1	24	16	0	Bangladesh	2004/05
Z Khan	2	4	314	215	5	Bangladesh	2004/05
IK Pathan	2	4	378	214	18	Bangladesh	2004/05
					23	Bangladesh	2004/05
Z Khan	2	4	477	293	15	Bangladesh	2009/10
I Sharma	2	4	366	211	9	Bangladesh	2009/10
S Sreesanth	1	2	140	108	2	Bangladesh	2009/10
					26	Bangladesh	2009/10
Z Khan	2	4	240	175	8	Bangladesh	2007
RP Singh	2	4	228	130	6	Bangladesh	2007
I Sharma	1	2	78	49	1	Bangladesh	2007
VRV Singh	1	2	122	70	3	Bangladesh	2007
					18	Bangladesh	2007
VR Aaron	1	1	54	27	1	Bangladesh	2015
I Sharma	1	1	42	24	0	Bangladesh	2015
UT Yadav	1	2	54	49	0	Bangladesh	2015
					1	Bangladesh	2015
Player	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Away Series	Season
L Amar Singh	1	2	433	159	4	England	1932
M Jahangir Khan	1	2	282	86	4	England	1932
M Nissar	1	2	264	135	6	England	1932
S Wazir Ali	1	1	6	9	0	England	1932
					14	England	1932
L Amar Singh	3	5	766	317	10	England	1936
M Jahangir Khan	3	4	324	169	0	England	1936
VM Merchant	3	2	54	40	0	England	1936
M Nissar	3	5	504	343	12	England	1936
M Baqa Jilani	1	1	90	55	0	England	1936
					22	England	1936
L Amarnath	3	5	942	330	13	England	1946
VS Hazare	3	5	388	179	2	England	1946
SW Sohoni	2	2	90	33	0	England	1946
Gul Mohammad	1	1	12	2	0	England	1946
					15	England	1946
MAK Pataudi	3	2	36	21	0	England	1967
BK Kunderan	2	1	24	13	0	England	1967
V Subramanya	2	3	126	70	1	England	1967
RF Surti	2	2	252	92	2	England	1967
S Guha	1	2	288	115	0	England	1967
					3	England	1967
S Abid Ali	3	6	586	269	5	England	1971
					5	England	1971
S Abid Ali	3	4	489	252	6	England	1974
S Madan Lal	2	3	438	188	2	England	1974
					8	England	1974
M Amarnath	2	2	200	100	2	England	1979
Yajurvindra Singh	1	2	60	19	0	England	1979
					2	England	1979
N Kapil Dev	3	5	798	439	10	England	1982
S Madan Lal	3	5	613	291	6	England	1982
Yashpal Sharma	3	1	18	1	0	England	1982
SM Patil	2	1	84	48	1	England	1982
					17	England	1982
RMH Binny	3	6	524	251	12	England	1986
N Kapil Dev	3	6	770	306	10	England	1986
M Amarnath	2	3	66	20	0	England	1986
C Sharma	2	4	615	300	16	England	1986
S Madan Lal	1	2	125	48	3	England	1986
					41	England	1986
N Kapil Dev	3	6	768	445	7	England	1990
M Prabhakar	3	6	930	554	8	England	1990
SK Sharma	1	2	288	197	3	England	1990
AS Wassan	1	2	222	173	3	England	1990
					21	England	1990
BKV Prasad	3	5	855	375	15	England	1996
J Srinath	3	5	913	433	11	England	1996
SC Ganguly	2	3	227	125	6	England	1996
PL Mhambrey	2	3	258	148	2	England	1996
					34	England	1996
SB Bangar	2	4	258	117	4	England	2002
A Nehra	2	3	456	319	5	England	2002
					9	England	2002
SC Ganguly	3	4	168	65	2	England	2007
Z Khan	3	6	818	366	18	England	2007
RP Singh	3	6	555	347	12	England	2007
S Sreesanth	3	6	678	338	9	England	2007
					41	England	2007
P Kumar	3	5	951	443	15	England	2011
S Sreesanth	3	4	666	493	8	England	2011
Z Khan	1	1	81	18	2	England	2011
RP Singh	1	1	204	118	0	England	2011
					25	England	2011
STR Binny	3	3	192	140	0	England	2014
Mohammed Shami	3	5	576	366	5	England	2014
I Sharma	3	4	690	381	14	England	2014
VR Aaron	2	2	330	250	5	England	2014
Pankaj Singh	2	3	450	292	2	England	2014
					26	England	2014
Player	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Away Series	Season
V Subramanya	2	3	24	15	0	New Zealand	1967/68
RB Desai	1	2	168	76	2	New Zealand	1967/68
UN Kulkarni	1	1	78	38	0	New Zealand	1967/68
M Amarnath	3	4	395	147	5	New Zealand	1975/76
S Madan Lal	3	4	720	264	8	New Zealand	1975/76
N Kapil Dev	3	5	636	255	8	New Zealand	1980/81
SM Patil	3	5	330	76	5	New Zealand	1980/81
DB Vengsarkar	3	1	12	3	0	New Zealand	1980/81
RMH Binny	1	2	204	93	3	New Zealand	1980/81
KD Ghavri	1	1	60	33	1	New Zealand	1980/81
B Yograj Singh	1	1	90	63	1	New Zealand	1980/81
N Kapil Dev	3	4	617	305	5	New Zealand	1989/90
M Prabhakar	3	5	715	382	5	New Zealand	1989/90
AS Wassan	3	4	490	331	7	New Zealand	1989/90
N Kapil Dev	1	2	150	72	2	New Zealand	1993/94
J Srinath	1	2	384	164	5	New Zealand	1993/94
SC Ganguly	2	3	102	65	0	New Zealand	1998/99
BKV Prasad	2	4	636	229	5	New Zealand	1998/99
J Srinath	2	4	689	356	10	New Zealand	1998/99
R Singh	1	2	240	176	3	New Zealand	1998/99
SB Bangar	2	2	102	27	2	New Zealand	2002/03
SC Ganguly	2	1	12	11	0	New Zealand	2002/03
Z Khan	2	4	326	151	11	New Zealand	2002/03
A Nehra	2	4	287	125	5	New Zealand	2002/03
AB Agarkar	1	1	79	54	1	New Zealand	2002/03
T Yohannan	1	2	150	43	1	New Zealand	2002/03
Z Khan	3	5	693	400	13	New Zealand	2008/09
MM Patel	3	5	504	290	6	New Zealand	2008/09
I Sharma	3	5	566	334	8	New Zealand	2008/09
MS Dhoni	2	1	6	5	0	New Zealand	2013/14
Z Khan	2	4	642	382	9	New Zealand	2013/14
V Kohli	2	2	42	17	0	New Zealand	2013/14
Mohammed Shami	2	4	599	351	10	New Zealand	2013/14
I Sharma	2	4	636	377	15	New Zealand	2013/14
Player	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Away Series	Season
M Amarnath	3	6	383	276	3	Pakistan	1978/79
S Amarnath	3	1	11	5	1	Pakistan	1978/79
N Kapil Dev	3	6	702	426	7	Pakistan	1978/79
KD Ghavri	1	2	180	102	2	Pakistan	1978/79
J Arun Lal	3	1	7	6	0	Pakistan	1982/83
S Madan Lal	3	4	498	349	8	Pakistan	1982/83
BS Sandhu	3	3	494	250	4	Pakistan	1982/83
TAP Sekhar	2	2	204	129	0	Pakistan	1982/83
M Amarnath	2	2	77	55	0	Pakistan	1984/85
N Kapil Dev	2	2	209	126	1	Pakistan	1984/85
C Sharma	2	2	366	233	4	Pakistan	1984/85
RMH Binny	1	1	48	20	0	Pakistan	1984/85
S Madan Lal	1	1	162	94	1	Pakistan	1984/85
V Razdan	2	2	240	141	5	Pakistan	1989/90
SA Ankola	1	2	180	128	2	Pakistan	1989/90
L Balaji	3	6	636	369	12	Pakistan	2003/04
IK Pathan	3	6	804	342	12	Pakistan	2003/04
AB Agarkar	1	1	138	80	1	Pakistan	2003/04
SC Ganguly	1	2	36	27	0	Pakistan	2003/04
Z Khan	1	1	138	76	1	Pakistan	2003/04
A Nehra	1	2	162	80	3	Pakistan	2003/04
MS Dhoni	3	1	6	13	0	Pakistan	2005/06
IK Pathan	3	5	691	486	8	Pakistan	2005/06
SC Ganguly	2	3	144	91	1	Pakistan	2005/06
Z Khan	2	4	568	374	10	Pakistan	2005/06
RP Singh	2	4	522	345	9	Pakistan	2005/06
AB Agarkar	1	1	144	122	2	Pakistan	2005/06
Player	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Away Series	Season
J Srinath	3	6	833	313	12	South Africa	1992/93
					12	South Africa	1992/93
SC Ganguly	3	6	216	85	3	South Africa	1996/97
BKV Prasad	3	6	732	425	17	South Africa	1996/97
J Srinath	3	6	889	517	18	South Africa	1996/97
D Ganesh	2	4	257	165	1	South Africa	1996/97
DJ Johnson	1	2	144	91	2	South Africa	1996/97
					41	South Africa	1996/97
SC Ganguly	2	2	42	38	0	South Africa	2001/02
J Srinath	2	4	510	257	13	South Africa	2001/02
AB Agarkar	1	2	270	156	2	South Africa	2001/02
Z Khan	1	2	172	107	0	South Africa	2001/02
A Nehra	1	2	150	130	2	South Africa	2001/02
					17	South Africa	2001/02
SC Ganguly	3	2	24	22	0	South Africa	2006/07
Z Khan	3	6	701	395	13	South Africa	2006/07
S Sreesanth	3	6	690	395	18	South Africa	2006/07
VRV Singh	2	4	265	199	3	South Africa	2006/07
MM Patel	1	2	126	45	1	South Africa	2006/07
					34	South Africa	2006/07
I Sharma	3	5	556	337	7	South Africa	2010/11
S Sreesanth	3	5	594	376	9	South Africa	2010/11
Z Khan	2	4	479	246	10	South Africa	2010/11
JD Unadkat	1	1	156	101	0	South Africa	2010/11
					26	South Africa	2010/11
MS Dhoni	2	1	12	4	0	South Africa	2013/14
Z Khan	2	3	531	320	7	South Africa	2013/14
V Kohli	2	1	36	18	0	South Africa	2013/14
Mohammed Shami	2	4	450	263	6	South Africa	2013/14
I Sharma	2	4	540	313	5	South Africa	2013/14
					18	South Africa	2013/14
JJ Bumrah	3	6	673	353	14	South Africa	2017/18
Mohammed Shami	3	6	501	256	15	South Africa	2017/18
HH Pandya	3	6	306	162	3	South Africa	2017/18
B Kumar	2	4	402	203	10	South Africa	2017/18
I Sharma	2	4	414	150	8	South Africa	2017/18
					50	South Africa	2017/18
Player	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Away Series	Season
N Kapil Dev	3	6	778	372	11	Sri Lanka	1985
C Sharma	3	6	654	383	14	Sri Lanka	1985
M Amarnath	2	1	90	31	1	Sri Lanka	1985
RMH Binny	1	1	72	49	2	Sri Lanka	1985
					28	Sri Lanka	1985
N Kapil Dev	3	5	559	159	5	Sri Lanka	1993
M Prabhakar	3	5	551	223	12	Sri Lanka	1993
J Srinath	2	3	198	78	3	Sri Lanka	1993
					20	Sri Lanka	1993
SC Ganguly	2	3	96	94	3	Sri Lanka	1997
A Kuruvilla	2	3	348	232	4	Sri Lanka	1997
BKV Prasad	2	3	396	264	2	Sri Lanka	1997
DS Mohanty	1	2	220	150	4	Sri Lanka	1997
					13	Sri Lanka	1997
SC Ganguly	3	3	237	134	2	Sri Lanka	2001
Z Khan	3	5	593	367	10	Sri Lanka	2001
BKV Prasad	3	4	582	308	11	Sri Lanka	2001
Harvinder Singh	1	2	135	87	2	Sri Lanka	2001
J Srinath	1	2	155	114	5	Sri Lanka	2001
					30	Sri Lanka	2001
SC Ganguly	3	3	67	39	0	Sri Lanka	2008
Z Khan	3	5	552	352	8	Sri Lanka	2008
I Sharma	3	4	429	213	6	Sri Lanka	2008
					14	Sri Lanka	2008
A Mithun	3	6	552	372	6	Sri Lanka	2010
I Sharma	3	6	594	432	7	Sri Lanka	2010
					13	Sri Lanka	2010
I Sharma	3	6	540	302	13	Sri Lanka	2015
STR Binny	2	3	240	117	3	Sri Lanka	2015
UT Yadav	2	4	324	214	5	Sri Lanka	2015
VR Aaron	1	2	108	107	2	Sri Lanka	2015
					23	Sri Lanka	2015
Mohammed Shami	3	6	365	177	10	Sri Lanka	2017
HH Pandya	3	5	192	95	4	Sri Lanka	2017
UT Yadav	3	6	343	215	6	Sri Lanka	2017
					20	Sri Lanka	2017
Player	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Away Series	Season
CV Gadkari	3	3	102	45	0	West Indies	1952/53
RH Shodhan	2	2	48	20	0	West Indies	1952/53
					0	West Indies	1952/53
RB Desai	3	4	318	160	3	West Indies	1961/62
NJ Contractor	2	1	12	6	0	West Indies	1961/62
VB Ranjane	1	2	284	153	6	West Indies	1961/62
					9	West Indies	1961/62
AV Mankad	3	1	30	33	0	West Indies	1970/71
					0	West Indies	1970/71
DB Vengsarkar	2	1	5	7	0	West Indies	1975/76
					0	West Indies	1975/76
S Madan Lal	2	2	372	201	5	West Indies	1982/83
					5	West Indies	1982/83
D Ganesh	2	3	204	122	4	West Indies	1996/97
					4	West Indies	1996/97
SB Bangar	2	2	174	74	1	West Indies	2002
					1	West Indies	2002
S Sreesanth	3	6	576	335	10	West Indies	2006
VRV Singh	2	4	282	158	2	West Indies	2006
IK Pathan	1	2	156	93	2	West Indies	2006
					14	West Indies	2006
P Kumar	3	6	660	254	12	West Indies	2011
I Sharma	3	6	743	371	22	West Indies	2011
A Mithun	1	2	168	84	3	West Indies	2011
MM Patel	1	2	264	119	1	West Indies	2011
					26	West Indies	2011
B Kumar	2	3	250	59	6	West Indies	2016
UT Yadav	2	4	294	149	5	West Indies	2016
					11	West Indies	2016
Player	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Away Series	Season
N Kapil Dev	1	2	324	93	3	Zimbabwe	1992/93
M Prabhakar	1	2	354	88	4	Zimbabwe	1992/93
J Srinath	1	2	264	104	3	Zimbabwe	1992/93
					10	Zimbabwe	1992/93
AB Agarkar	1	2	204	100	2	Zimbabwe	1998/99
SC Ganguly	1	2	54	31	1	Zimbabwe	1998/99
RR Singh	1	2	60	32	0	Zimbabwe	1998/99
J Srinath	1	2	267	102	5	Zimbabwe	1998/99
					8	Zimbabwe	1998/99
SC Ganguly	2	1	6	3	0	Zimbabwe	2001
A Nehra	2	4	454	217	11	Zimbabwe	2001
J Srinath	2	4	539	246	7	Zimbabwe	2001
AB Agarkar	1	2	192	84	1	Zimbabwe	2001
Z Khan	1	2	198	98	4	Zimbabwe	2001
					22	Zimbabwe	2001
SC Ganguly	2	3	36	18	0	Zimbabwe	2005
Z Khan	2	4	336	184	9	Zimbabwe	2005
IK Pathan	2	4	391	237	21	Zimbabwe	2005
					30	Zimbabwe	2005

 

 

Summary
Wkts	Away Series	Season
4	Australia	1947/48
5	Australia	1967/68
20	Australia	1977/78
26	Australia	1980/81
13	Australia	1985/86
30	Australia	1999/00
13	Australia	2003/04
19	Australia	2007/08
1	Australia	2011/12
41	Australia	2014/15
10	Bangladesh	2000/01
23	Bangladesh	2004/05
26	Bangladesh	2009/10
18	Bangladesh	2007
1	Bangladesh	2015
14	England	1932
22	England	1936
15	England	1946
3	England	1967
5	England	1971
8	England	1974
2	England	1979
17	England	1982
41	England	1986
21	England	1990
9	England	2002
41	England	2007
25	England	2011
26	England	2014
2	New Zealand	1967/68
13	New Zealand	1975/76
18	New Zealand	1980/81
17	New Zealand	1989/90
7	New Zealand	1993/94
18	New Zealand	1998/99
20	New Zealand	2002/03
27	New Zealand	2008/09
34	New Zealand	2013/14
13	Pakistan	1978/79
12	Pakistan	1982/83
6	Pakistan	1984/85
7	Pakistan	1989/90
29	Pakistan	2003/04
30	Pakistan	2005/06
12	South Africa	1992/93
41	South Africa	1996/97
17	South Africa	2001/02
34	South Africa	2006/07
26	South Africa	2010/11
18	South Africa	2013/14
50	South Africa	2017/18
28	Sri Lanka	1985
20	Sri Lanka	1993
13	Sri Lanka	1997
30	Sri Lanka	2001
14	Sri Lanka	2008
13	Sri Lanka	2010
23	Sri Lanka	2015
20	Sri Lanka	2017
0	West Indies	1952/53
9	West Indies	1961/62
0	West Indies	1970/71
0	West Indies	1975/76
5	West Indies	1982/83
4	West Indies	1996/97
1	West Indies	2002
14	West Indies	2006
26	West Indies	2011
11	West Indies	2016
10	Zimbabwe	1992/93
8	Zimbabwe	1998/99
22	Zimbabwe	2001
30	Zimbabwe	2005

 

Wickets – Descending order
Wkts	Away Series	Season
50	South Africa	2017/18
41	England	1986
41	England	2007
41	Australia	2014/15
41	South Africa	1996/97
34	New Zealand	2013/14
34	South Africa	2006/07
30	Australia	1999/00
30	Pakistan	2005/06
30	Sri Lanka	2001
30	Zimbabwe	2005
29	Pakistan	2003/04
28	Sri Lanka	1985
27	New Zealand	2008/09
26	Australia	1980/81
26	Bangladesh	2009/10
26	England	2014
26	South Africa	2010/11
26	West Indies	2011
25	England	2011
23	Bangladesh	2004/05
23	Sri Lanka	2015
22	England	1936
22	Zimbabwe	2001
21	England	1990
20	Australia	1977/78
20	New Zealand	2002/03
20	Sri Lanka	1993
20	Sri Lanka	2017
19	Australia	2007/08
18	Bangladesh	2007
18	New Zealand	1980/81
18	New Zealand	1998/99
18	South Africa	2013/14
17	England	1982
17	New Zealand	1989/90
17	South Africa	2001/02
15	England	1946
14	England	1932
14	Sri Lanka	2008
14	West Indies	2006
13	Australia	1985/86
13	Australia	2003/04
13	New Zealand	1975/76
13	Pakistan	1978/79
13	Sri Lanka	1997
13	Sri Lanka	2010
12	Pakistan	1982/83
12	South Africa	1992/93
11	West Indies	2016
10	Bangladesh	2000/01
10	Zimbabwe	1992/93
9	England	2002
9	West Indies	1961/62
8	England	1974
8	Zimbabwe	1998/99
7	New Zealand	1993/94
7	Pakistan	1989/90
6	Pakistan	1984/85
5	Australia	1967/68
5	England	1971
5	West Indies	1982/83
4	Australia	1947/48
4	West Indies	1996/97
3	England	1967
2	England	1979
2	New Zealand	1967/68
1	Australia	2011/12
1	Bangladesh	2015
1	West Indies	2002
0	West Indies	1952/53
0	West Indies	1970/71
0	West Indies	1975/76