Most Dot Balls in Test

Most Dot Balls in Test is a definitive measure of a bowler's relentless accuracy, patience, and ability to build pressure by denying runs over a long career. This prestigious record is currently held by the legendary English paceman James Anderson.
Throughout his remarkable career spanning over two decades, Anderson delivered an unprecedented 31,500+ dot balls, a testament to his exceptional control and longevity as a fast bowler. He is followed by his long-time partner Stuart Broad (26,150+) and Australia’s spin wizard Nathan Lyon, who has crossed 25,700+ dots as of April 2026. While the record for total career dots highlights sustained excellence, the record for consecutive dots belongs to India's Bapu Nadkarni, who famously bowled 131 consecutive dots (21.5 maiden overs) against England in 1964. As of 2026, these statistics remain the hallmark of a "stingy" bowler, representing the psychological warfare where the bowler suffocates the batter's scoring options to force an eventual mistake.
 

RANK 1

Prabath Jayasuriya

SL

Dots

2808

Wkts

63

RANK 2

Shoaib Bashir

ENG

Dots

2800

Wkts

68

RANK 3

Ravindra Jadeja

IND

Dots

2730

Wkts

73

Rank Player Mat Dots Wkts Maiden Runs
1 13 2808 63 89 2248
2 18 2800 68 53 2652
3 21 2730 73 88 2121
4 20 2727 94 136 1661
5 22 2473 71 93 2203
6 20 2350 88 86 1975
7 13 2349 58 87 1765
8 15 2215 51 88 1557
9 14 2047 43 95 1345
10 16 2023 58 77 1373
11 12 2018 60 78 1315
12 16 2013 58 82 1561
13 16 1977 69 84 1671
14 14 1897 58 58 1751
15 14 1860 57 75 1234
16 18 1638 48 48 1337
17 12 1635 68 81 1110
18 12 1576 48 62 1283
19 11 1560 49 62 1074
20 12 1370 45 32 1173
21 13 1351 36 55 1091
22 11 1326 47 30 1281
23 9 1267 47 59 812
24 10 1262 46 74 682
25 11 1227 51 38 1105
26 11 1196 17 46 1005
27 11 1181 39 59 947
28 13 1129 30 31 888
29 9 1124 42 30 971
30 10 1100 39 32 1139
31 10 1099 28 40 1002
32 5 1078 22 30 795
33 8 1077 40 53 763
34 6 1048 29 51 778
35 6 1012 50 26 802
36 8 1012 31 40 726
37 7 1010 39 20 1035
38 8 967 32 40 627
39 10 959 27 17 1125
40 13 958 20 32 779
41 7 948 31 41 616
42 22 931 13 24 855
43 6 914 40 21 926
44 13 907 25 20 893
45 9 899 29 41 606
46 5 872 19 32 595
47 4 842 25 46 407
48 8 808 30 29 754
49 4 767 30 36 429
50 5 762 18 27 502
51 11 747 19 33 473
52 5 744 21 32 490
53 7 717 20 22 595
54 4 713 18 20 599
55 7 686 15 16 602
56 5 679 13 31 528
57 5 631 14 30 393
58 7 629 13 18 529
59 4 628 15 14 490
60 4 601 13 29 369
61 5 580 13 16 566
62 8 578 9 10 636
63 4 564 12 17 522
64 4 559 11 13 404
65 4 532 19 19 379
66 4 531 15 16 550
67 7 522 17 14 641
68 4 517 12 23 382
69 4 506 20 10 626
70 5 497 14 16 393
71 3 485 12 12 520
72 9 485 8 23 327
73 3 483 15 17 289
74 5 482 21 15 416
75 4 480 16 18 320
76 5 471 6 12 341
77 9 468 8 11 522
78 5 462 15 11 472
79 5 460 11 14 386
80 4 455 8 13 399
81 5 449 5 19 337
82 3 440 11 10 412
83 9 414 9 12 438
84 4 413 8 9 359
85 2 411 16 19 275
86 3 411 6 16 293
87 3 404 11 11 346
88 12 396 9 11 353
89 2 392 6 16 209
90 4 386 16 21 302