Top 5 youngest Indian bowlers to take a 5-wicket haul in Tests

India has produced many legendary batsmen but numbers falter when we enlist its bowling contribution to the world cricket. Batting is probably the favorite part of the game for the practitioners as well as for the viewers in India. Most of the young cricketers want to follow the footsteps of Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Dravid and many other greats.

Every year we hear about some batsman, who is a child prodigy, making waves in the domestic circuit. Talks about their international prospects surface soon and people find new heroes in them. We have even seen a few young batting talents making debut for India and delivering scintillating performances. But it happens very rarely when we discuss young bowlers making waves in their early ages.

Test cricket, which is considered to be the ultimate form of the game, tests the players to their core, in accordance with its name. It brings out the real character of a player. It is a delight to watch a bowler stamping his brilliance on a cricket pitch at a young age.

We previously went through the list of world's top 5 youngest bowlers to take 5-wicket haul in Test cricket. In this list, let's take a look at who are the youngest Indian bowlers to achieve the same feat.

#5 Chetan Sharma (19y 246d)

Chetan Sharma is the first Indian to take a hattrick in ODIs

Chetan Sharma was a medium pace bowler of India in the late 80s. He was a pocket-sized dynamo. He made up for his height with a good action and a decent pace. He made his first-class debut for Haryana at the age of 16 and was able to get into the Indian team at the age of 17. He made his Test debut a year later, at 18.

He picked his first five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in the second Test of the series at Colombo in 1985. While bowling in the first innings, he dismissed five wickets for 118 runs (5/118) to hold Sri Lanka at 385. He picked one more wicket in the second innings and ended the match with 6 wickets in his kitty. However, India couldn't win the match and Sri Lanka won the game by 149 runs. He picked 14 wickets in the series and impressed everyone with his eye-catching performances.

He later went to England in 1986 for a 3-match Test series. There he picked 16 wickets in just two Test matches that included a five-wicket haul at Lord's. Moreover, he became the first Indian bowler to take ten-wicket haul in England(at Birmingham).

In his Test career, Sharma picked 61 wickets in 23 matches with the best figures in an innings of 6/58.

#4 Ishant Sharma (19y 97d)

Ishant Sharma made his Test debut in 2007

Ishant Sharma was tall and scraggy when he arrived at the international scene. Ishant hails from Delhi and debuted for his home state at the age of 18. Riding on his prolific performances in the domestic cricket, he soon advanced into the national team. He was picked in the Indian team for the tour of Bangladesh in 2007 and made his Test debut in the same series.

He came to the limelight later that year when he dismantled the Pakistani side in the test at Bengaluru and picked his maiden five-wicket haul. He prised out Pakistan's lower-order to pick 5/118. The match ended in a draw.

He amazed the world in the Test series in Australia later that year. He troubled the Australian great Ricky Ponting in the entire series and even dismissed him quite a few times. He bowled with an elegant action and at a good pace. He looked at his best. He constantly bowled at a high pace (145+) and hit the right lengths, prompting many greats to consider him as the future of Indian cricket.

He is often referred to 'workhorse' and is famous for bowling long spells. Though he was drifted from the national side for a while, he is presently a mainstay of the Indian Test bowling.

#3 Narendra Hirwani (19y 85d)

Narendra Hirwani holds the record of best bowling figures by any bowler on Test debut

Leg spinner Narendra Hirwani has the best bowling figures on debut in Test cricket history. Leg-spinner Hirwani was a short-lived star in Indian cricket. He shone briefly and faded thereafter.

He was born in Uttar Pradesh but represented Madhya Pradesh in domestic tournaments. He made his domestic debut at the age of 16 and had to wait for three years before making his international debut at 19.

After picking wickets opulently in the U-19 and U-25 tournaments, he was awarded a place in the team in the home series against the formidable West Indies. He got the chance in the 4th Test of the series and made it count.

He made a dream debut, dismissing almost every batsman in the West Indies team. He registered his first fifer in the first innings of the game and picked 8/61. He just didn't stop there. He once again picked 8 wickets for 75 runs in the second innings and ended his match figures at 16/136. This is the cricket's best bowling figure on Test debut till date.

#2 L Sivaramakrishnan (18y 333d)

Laxman Sivaramakrishnan - A meteoric phenomenon

L Sivaramakrishnan was another example of a promising talent that couldn't last long. He was like a shooting star. He shone momentarily and then faded away.

He had a glittering Ranji debut at the age of 16 and picked 7 wickets for 28 runs. Before turning 17, he made his way in the Indian team on the tour to Pakistan in 1982-83. At the age of 17y and 118 days, against West Indies in Antigua, he became the youngest Indian to make the test debut.

With few days to turn 19, he came in the limelight after winning India the test match against England at Bombay in 1984-85. He picked 6/64 in the first innings to bundle the English side cheaply. In the second innings, when Mike grating started looking unstoppable, he once again came to the rescue. He picked 6 wickets for 117 and India won the first test of the series by 8 wickets.

He only played 9 Test matches for India and was gone before the world could know about him.

#1 Ravi Shastri (18y 290d)

Ravi Shastri is the present coach of Indian Men's team

Till this date, Ravi Shastri is the eight youngest on the list of all-time youngest bowlers to take fifer in a test. He was a complete package in his playing days. A dependable middle-order batsman and an equipped bowler.

Bombay-boy Shastri was also famous for his flamboyance and was probably the first glamour boy of Indian cricket. His attitude was outright and he preferred wearing his heart on his sleeve.

He had made waves in junior-level cricket and was fast-tracked in the Bombay Ranji team at the age of 17. A year later, he donned the whites to play for India. He came into the side predominantly as a spin bowler and made his debut in New Zealand in 1980-81. In the third Test at Auckland, he dismissed 5 players for 125 runs to become the youngest Indian bowler to do so.

He had a successful career and culminated after playing 80 Test matches for India. He starred in India's win in Benson & Hedges cup in 1985. Presently, he is the coach of India's senior men's team.