5 best Test bowling performances by Indians in the last decade

2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (6/82 vs England, Lord’s, 2014)

Bhuvneshwar Kumar made full use of the bowling-friendly conditions at Lord's in 2014

While the Indian pace attack these days is dominated by men who bowl at high speeds and get the ball to bounce sharply, the best exponent of swing bowling remains Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

When India took on England at Lord’s in the second Test of a five-match series, and a green-top was served up to favor the home team, Bhuvi proved to be the ace in the pack.

India didn’t have the advantage of bowling first, and by the time England’s innings came around, conditions had got slightly better. But Bhuvi didn’t let that trouble India much. He bowled with his usual accuracy and tested the batsmen with his line and length.

Unlike his home country where the ball stops moving as soon as it gets old, here Bhuvneshwar continued to get swing throughout the innings. He knocked over the top four batsmen in the English line-up including the centurion Gary Ballance, and then added two more to his kitty.

Interestingly, it wasn’t him who got the man-of-the-match award but Ishant Sharma, for getting a number of wickets in the second innings with bouncers. However, Ishant’s success was partly due to the ineptitude and poor shot selection of the English batsmen. Bhuvi, on the other hand, set up the game for India with his magnificent display.