3 costliest spells by an Indian at the World Cup

The Indian cricket team succumbed to their first defeat in the 2019 World Cup as they lost to England by a margin of 31 runs.

Despite an exceptional bowling performance by Jasprit Bumrah and a fine century by Rohit Sharma, the team suffered a defeat as they could not keep up with the needed run rate and a left a lot to be achieved at the very end.

A lot of records were created in the match by Indian players - Rohit equaled Sourav Ganguly's 2003 record of scoring three centuries in a single edition of the World Cup while Virat Kohli became the first captain to score five consecutive half-centuries at the World Cup but amongst these an unfortunate record was also created during the course of the match.

Yuzvendra Chahal, the 28-year old leg spinner, conceded 88 runs off his quota of 10 overs breaking the record of most runs conceded by an Indian bowler at the World Cup. His spell was also the fifth most expensive spell by an Indian in an ODI.

So, let's take a look at the top 3 costliest spells by an Indian at the World Cup.

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#3 Karsan Ghavri - 83 runs vs England

Nov 1979: Karsan Ghavri bowling against Australia in a Test at Bombay

Karsan Devjibhai Ghavri was a left-arm medium pacer active in the Indian cricket team in the mid-1970s and the early 1980s.

He was a part of the Indian side at the inaugural 1975 and also the 1979 World Cup. In the very first match of India's 1975 World Cup campaign, India took on England at London. The English captain, Mike Denness had won the toss and opted to bat first.

While batting first the English side scored a massive 334/4 in their quota of 60 overs with Dennis Amiss being the top-scorer and the eventual man-of-the-match with an innings of 137.

While the Indian bowlers struggled heavily against a supreme batting performance by the English, Ghavri was the one who suffered the most as he ended with a spell of 11-1-83-0.

#2 Javagal Srinath - 87 runs vs Australia

Javagal Srinath in action

The previous record for the costliest spell by an Indian bowler at the World Cup was held by Javagal Srinath for his spell of 10-0-87-0 against Australia in the finals of the 2003 World Cup.

People like me, who distinctly remember the World Cup, can never forget the afternoon of 23rd March 2003 when Adam Gilchrist, with his quickfire 57 off 48 deliveries, and the unbeaten duo of Ricky Ponting (140*) and Damien Martyn (88*) thoroughly dominated the Indian bowlers with their destructive batting display.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly tried eight of his bowlers that day but none of them could prove effective enough to stop the Australian batting juggernaut in scoring a mammoth 359 for 2.

Srinath, India's bowling spearhead, faced the majority of the Aussie battering as he conceded 87 runs off his quota of 10 overs including 12 boundaries.

#1 Yuzvendra Chahal - 88 runs vs England

Yuzvendra Chahal bowling at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

On a seemingly flat-track in Birmingham which did not offer much turn for the spinners, Indian leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was taken to the cleaners by the England batting side.

England had won the toss and decided to bat first. Jason Roy, who was making a comeback post an injury resulted break, along with Jonny Bairstow made a cautious start by scoring just 47 runs off the first powerplay. Once they entered the second powerplay period, they went all guns blazing and the majority of the brunt had to be borne by Chahal.

Chahal eventually ended with figures of 10-0-88-0 which included 7 fours and 6 sixes. Instead of getting bogged down by his performance, he should take heart from the fact that he hasn't been alone to suffer in the tournament. A couple of weeks back his fellow leg spinner, Rashid Khan, had the worst outing against the same opposition, England with figures of 9-0-110-0 - the costliest spell by any bowler in a World Cup innings.