5 best bowling performances by an Indian in ODI Cricket

Indian fans will always remember the high-quality innings that have been played by our great batsmen. We have come across many of the top knocks by Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the biggest icon of the game, on numerous occasions. People also are aware of the Indian ODI Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s innings in the Wold Cup final or Kapil Dev’s 175 vs Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup. Be it Virat Kohli’s blazing centuries against Sri Lanka and Pakistan or Rohit Sharma’s record-breaking double hundreds, these are just few of the many to name.Spare a thought for the bowlers now. Start to think about the Indian bowling and how many equally great, if not better performances with the ball can you recall by the Indians? Full marks to people who make the count to at least a dozen.India has never been known to be a country producing quality bowlers. Even when it comes to the One Day International Circuit, there are very few names that come up in the list among the great bowlers of the world. It becomes very difficult in this format to cut the runs being scored and at the same time pick up as many wickets as possible to put the opposition under serious trouble. We would list out a few performances who could not make the cut and then go on to describe the best five of the others. Honorable Mentions:- Madan Lal’s 3/31 vs West Indies in the final of the World Cup, 1983-Lord’s.- Sourav Ganguly’s 5/16 vs Pakistan, 1997-Toronto- Venkatesh Prasad’s 5/27 vs Pakistan in the super six game of the World Cup, 1999-Manchester- Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 4/8 vs Sri Lanka in a must-win game in the tri-series, 2013-Port of Spain- Murali Kartik’s 5/27 vs Australia, 2007-MumbaiLet’s look at the one’s that made it to the top 5 performances’ list and get to know more about the same.

#5 Sachin Tendulkar\'s 5/32 vs Australia, 1998-Kochi

Tendulkar was quite useful with the ball on many occasions

This was the opening match of the Pepsi Triangular Series in India back in 1998. India with the help of an unbeaten century by Ajay Jadeja, piled up a mammoth 309 in their allotted 50 overs. The great opening pair of Mark Waugh and the dangerous Adam Gilchrist got Australia off to a flying start, when they brought up a quick 100 run partnership for the first wicket in a mere 11 overs. India fought their way back into the game, but Steve Waugh and Michael Beven put the Aussies at 203-3 at one stage after 31 overs.

Whenever Sachin tried to turn the ball, he would often extract a lot of movement off the pitch. The unknown Kochi track, which hosted its first-ever ODI, gave him the assistance for the same. Giving the ball the loop and catch it back of your own bowling, the off-break, dart it down the leg side, a loopy deceiving leg break and a trademark Shane Warne delivery: these were the variety of the deliveries he bowled to get the five wickets of the Australian middle order.

He got the wickets of Steven Waugh, Darren Lehman, Michael Bevan, Tom Moody and Damien Martyn-all great ODI batsmen and some of them great finishers of the game as well, Bevan in particular. At one point in the game, he even narrowly missed his hat-trick.

The smiling magician, who spun a web over the Australian batting, chuckled as he got a fiver against his all time favorite opposition in Australia. Sachin fans would you mind seeing this performance over his great knocks someday, atleast for a change?

#4 Anil Kumble\'s 6/12 vs West Indies in the final of the Hero Cup, 1993-Calcuatta

Anil Kumble destroyed the West Indies at Eden Gardens

Jumbo’s record spell of 6/12 was the best ever bowling figures by an Indian until last year in an ODI game. This outstanding feat was held for 21 long years.

The class of Anil Kumble and his accuracy throughout, along with the occasion being a final of the Hero Cup makes this performance find a position in the top 5. He got the six-wicket haul by bowling just 6.1 overs. Four out of the six batsmen were out bowled.

The victims included the likes of Adams and Hooper. Not to forget India were defending a moderate total of 225 at that time.

Roland Holder became the first person to be given out bowled by a TV umpire - the on-field officials weren't sure if the ball had gone off wicketkeeper Vijay Yadav on to the stumps. A crowd estimated at close to 100,000 at the Eden Gardens, remains a world record for any day's cricket.

#3 Stuart Binny\'s 6/4 vs Bangladesh, 2014-Dhaka

Stuart Binny’s 6/4 are the best figures by an Indian in ODIs

Tired of getting bashed by a Bangladeshi cricket fan after the recent series loss of India to them? Remind them of 17 June, 2014-the day when the second ODI of the three-match series was played in Dhaka. Bangladesh were 44 with the loss of their openers early on, chasing just 106 in 41 overs. Enter: Stuart Binny, who in those damp conditions ran riot with a bucket load of wickets and made the Bangladeshi batsmen, in their own backyard, a laughing stock.

The crowd were stunned and the Indian supporters could not believe what was being delivered across the border, Bangladesh managed just 14 more runs and were bundled out for a mere 58 runs. Binny, apart from his opening over, got a wicket or two in every over that he bowled.

That goes without saying, he broke the nearly 21-year-old record of Kumble for the best bowling figures by an Indian in ODIs record. His figures at the end were: 4.4-2-4-6, that’s right, which eventually sealed the ODI series for India in the same game.

#2 Ashish Nehra\'s 6/23 vs England in the 2003 World Cup-Durban

Ashish Nehra’s spell: The best chapter in the history of Indian seam bowling

India and Kingsmead, go well with each other. Here was a bowling showdown, arguably the best by an India fast bowler. It was a must win super six game against England and Ashish Nehra had a seriously swollen ankle just two days before the big game. It was surprising to see him even turn up for this game.

Indian batsmen, banking on the fifties of Dravid and Tendulkar, set up a target of 251 to an English team that had depth in their batting. Michael Vaughan and skipper Nasser Hussain were at the crease and had stabilized the early loss of openers, England were riding at 55 for two.

Nehra, who was not used to bowling with the new ball then, got the captain and then Alec Stewart (first ball leg before the wicket) dismissed off consecutive deliveries, throwing the dice in India’s favor again. He was not done yet, he got Vaughan in his next over and the scoreboard read 62 for five.

He further got three more wickets as England fell short by 82 runs. Nehra bowled ten overs straight through, five of his six wickets were caught at the slip cordons, he just bowled a total of six deliveries which were either short or full in his entire spell. After this win, the Indian fans went crazy as India went on to reach the finals of the tournament.

#1 Sunil Joshi\'s 5/6 vs South Africa, Nairobi-1999

Joshi stunned South Africa with his spell

One of the dream spells any bowler would imagine for his lifetime, one of the most economically complete spells ever bowled in ODI Cricket. This is a bowling performance that tops the charts by an Indian.

Not many would be knowing that this was the first game for South Africa since their agonizing and heartbreaking World Cup semi-final tie in 1999 at The Headingley. Joshi weaved his magical web over the Proteas which left them in no clue as they were bundled out for a paltry 117. India had more than half of their allotted overs to spare when they got home.

What was also remarkable about this spell was the quality batsmen that Joshi sent back to the pavilion: Dippenaar, Gibbs, Cronje, Rhodes and Pollock. His scalps did not include even a single wicket from the lower order.

Talk about brilliant bowling figures, 10-6-6-5 would take quite a beating, at least by an Indian and yes we do not mean Test Cricket over here.