Top 5 spells by a bowler on his birthday ft. Kuldeep Yadav

If you're a sportsperson, then you might have a busy schedule during your active career, spending a lot of time on the field even on your birthday.

Birthdays are special, and that's for everyone, and cricketers are no different. There are many players who have toiled hard on the cricket field on their "special day" in the past.

There are a few players in cricket history who stole the limelight while playing cricket matches on their birthdays, coming up with an astonishing performance on the field.

Here we take a glance at some of the bowlers who gifted themselves with fabulous spells on their special day across all formats.

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#5 Yuvraj Singh, 3/23

Portraits - 2018 Laureus World Sports Awards - Monaco

Yuvraj Singh, who celebrates his birthday on December 12, helped India level the two-match T20 series with his all-round performance at Mohali in 2009.

With the bat, he smoked 25 balls, 60 not out, taking his team home with 5 balls remaining, but not before his game-changing spell with the ball, where he scalped 3/23 in his 3 overs spell.

In a game where both teams scored in excess of 10 runs an over, his spell-giving runs at around 7 runs proved to be deterrent.

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#2 Imran Tahir, 4/21

It was a jailbreak for South Africa in the 2014 T20 World Cup, where they found themselves in deep trouble against the Netherlands, where they could only manage to get 145 runs on the board while batting first.

On a tacky wicket, had it not been for Hashim Amla's 22 balls and 43 runs, this score could have been much lower. But now it's up to the bowlers to stand up and defend this total.

Imran Tahir, who was celebrating his birthday on that day, was brought very late into the attack in the 9th over. But it didn't stop him from wrecking havoc on Dutch batsmen, as they found it difficult to read his variations and bundled him out for 139 runs, six runs short of the target. Tahir finished his match-winning spell with 4/21.

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#3 Wanindu Hasaranga, 4/9

It was an extraordinary and spirited bowling performance from Sri Lankan bowlers that restricted India to a paltry score of 81/8 in the third T20 in 2021.

A game that was scheduled to be played on July 28 got postponed by a day to July 29, which also happened to be the birthday of Wanindu Hasaranga. And he didn't disappoint Sri Lankan fans either by bowling one of the most memorable spells.

He strangled the Indian batting line-up with his tight lines, scaling 4 wickets for only 9 runs, helping his team win their first series against India since 2008.

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#2 Kuldeep Yadav, 5/17

With series on line and defending 202 runs on a two-paced surface, Kuldeep Yadav spun his web and became the first ever bowler to pick up a fifer in T20s on his birthday against South Africa in 2023.

Suryakumar Yadav's T20 batting masterclass, where he notched up his 4th century in this format, put India in a strong position, with slower ones gripping on the surface.

With South African batting consistent of quality spin hitters, one would have expected them to run India for their money, but Kuldeep made sure that they were never in the chase. He picked up his second T20 fifer, closing the match in the 14th over itself.

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#1 Peter Siddle, 6/54

Sheffield Shield - SA v VIC: Day 4

What's better than taking a hat-trick against your arch-rivals to celebrate your birthday?

Peter Siddle did what every bowler desires to have in his career: a hat-trick to his name. But to achieve it on birthday was cheery on top.

Siddle dismissed Alastair Cook, Matt Prior, and Stuart Broad on three consecutive deliveries to derail England's innings, picking up a memorable fifer and finishing up with a 6/54.