2018 tour of South Africa marked a new beginning in Indian cricket. The Virat Kohli-led side may not have won the series, but it marked as a dawn of new era, which witnessed the rise of an Indian Test team which had a pool of quality world-class pacers who could collectively snare all 20 wickets in an overseas Test. It saw the rise of Jasprit Bumrah as a lethal force in red-ball cricket, and together with the likes of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, they added to India’s dominance in the format.
But before the dawn, India did witness some of the best bowling performances in the Rainbow Nation, some of which can even make the all-time list – from Sreesanth’s 2010 masterclass to Javagal Srinath’s stellar four-fer in the maiden tour, from Ishant Sharma’s fiery Johannesburg spell to Harbhajan Singh’s wizardry in Durban. Ahead of the much-anticipated eighth tour of South Africa, which begins from December 26, we take a look at the top 10 performances by Indian bowlers.
1. Sreesanth – 5/40, Johannesburg, 2006
One cannot start with a more defining performance when recalling the top 10 bowling spells by an Indian bowler in South Africa. In the 2006 tour, India had registered their first ever win in South African soil, and Sreesanth’s fifer in the first innings played a pivotal role in the 123-run victory. He dismissed captain Graeme Smith in the second over before getting rid of Hashim Amla and Herschelle Gibbs in the same spell with the new ball and eventually completed his five-wicket haul with the wicket of Shaun Pollock. His performance helped India fold South Africa with a 165-run deficit in the first innings and backed it up with three more in the second innings to help the visitors script a famous win in Johannesburg.
2. Ishant Sharma – 4/79, Johannesburg, 2013
At the same venue, seven years after Sreesanth’s sensational show, Ishant had wreaked havoc on the bouncy Johannesburg track in the first innings, dismissing Alviro Petersen with the new cherry before returning for his second spell to dismiss both Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis in successive deliveries. He completed his four-fer with the wicket of Dale Steyn as India managed to restrict the hosts 36 runs short of their first-innings score.
3. Jasprit Bumrah – 5/54, Johannesburg, 2018
All the talks around Bumrah being a limited-overs specialist, had ended right after the Test series in South Africa in 2018. It was his debut Test appearance and Bumrah had already impressed with eights wickets in the first two Tests of the series, but he had more in store. In the final match, in Johannesburg, Bumrah dismissed a well-set Amla for 61 before removing skipper Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Andile Phehlukwayo and Lungisani Ngidi to complete his maiden five-wicket haul, becoming only the fourth Indian seamer to achieve that feat. His achievement, which announced his arrival in Test cricket, helped India fold the hosts for just 194, taking a slender lead of seven runs.
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4. Mohammed Shami – 5/28, Johannesburg, 2018
If it was Bumrah in the first innings, it was Shami in the second. Kohli and Rahane’s gritty 40s in a demonic track, ably assisted by Bhuveneshwar helped India set a 241-run target. Shami removed opener Aiden Markram early before running through a lower order, picking four quick wickets in a space of just 17 deliveries to record a fifer in Johannesburg which helped India script a memorable 63-run win.
5. Javagal Srinath – 6/76, Port Elizabeth, 2001
Having lost the opener in the 2001 series, India looked to stay alive in the contest and Srinath’s superb six-fer at Port Elizabeth showed some ray of hope to the visitors. He dismissed two of their best three batters – Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis – early before running through the middle and lower order to pick four more. His 6 for 76 helped India restrict South Africa to 362 after an impressive 196 from Gibbs. India had eventually eked out a draw after Deepa Dasgupta and Rahul Dravid helped the team to bat out the final innings.
6. Harbhajan Singh – 4/10, Durban, 2010
Amid all the pace-bowling performances, here we have our first spinner. 0-1 behind in the series, India found themselves in trouble as they were skittled out for just 205 in the first innings and then Amla looked to add to their woes with his 46-ball 33. Enter Harbhajan. He dismissed the veteran batter before running through the lower order picking three more in a space of 26 deliveries to fold the hosts for a paltry 131. India had eventually gone to win the match by 87 runs.
7. Anil Kumble – 6/53, Johannesburg, 1992
Another spinner makes the list. The first Test had ended in a draw. South Africa restricted India with a 65-run deficit in the first innings despite a stellar century from Sachin Tendulkar and looked to pile on more pressure with opener Andrew Hudson and wicketkeeper-batsman David Richardson scoring their respective half-centuries. Kumble removed the two before dismissing three other middle-order batters as South Africa managed to set a 318-run target. India had batted out the innings to force a draw.
6. Harbhajan Singh – 4/10, Durban, 2010
Amid all the pace-bowling performances, here we have our first spinner. 0-1 behind in the series, India found themselves in trouble as they were skittled out for just 205 in the first innings and then Amla looked to add to their woes with his 46-ball 33. Enter Harbhajan. He dismissed the veteran batter before running through the lower order picking three more in a space of 26 deliveries to fold the hosts for a paltry 131. India had eventually gone to win the match by 87 runs.
7. Anil Kumble – 6/53, Johannesburg, 1992
Another spinner makes the list. The first Test had ended in a draw. South Africa restricted India with a 65-run deficit in the first innings despite a stellar century from Sachin Tendulkar and looked to pile on more pressure with opener Andrew Hudson and wicketkeeper-batsman David Richardson scoring their respective half-centuries. Kumble removed the two before dismissing three other middle-order batters as South Africa managed to set a 318-run target. India had batted out the innings to force a draw.
8. Javagal Srinath – 4/33, Cape Town, 1993
South Africa thrashed India in the third Test in that same series, by nine wickets, to take 1-0 lead and the Mohammad Azaharuddin-led side looked to level the series. However, the visitors found themselves 85 runs short of the first innings score after being folded for 276. Srinath then wreaked havoc in the second innings, dismissing the top three early before finishing with 4/33, which played a pivotal role in India forcing a third draw in the series.
9. Harbhajan Singh – 7/120, Cape Town, 2011
After Sachin Tendulkar’s 146, combined with Gautam Gambhir’s 93 helped India cancel out the first-innings score, Harbhajan spun a web around the South African batting line-up, dismissing all the top four batters which included captain Graeme Smith and Amla before making the lower order dance to his tunes as he finished with a seven-fer in the second innings of the third Test of the series helping India to end the match in a draw. The series ended 1-1, India’s only drawn series in South Africa in seven attempts.
10. Zaheer Khan – 4/88, Johannesburg, 2013
Ishant four-fer wasn’t alone that inflicted the damage on the hosts in the opening innings of the first Test in the 2013 series. After Ishant had ran through the top order, Zaheer removed skipper Smith before removing Faf du Plessis and two other lower-order batters to finish with 4 for 88 that helped India head into the second innings with a lead of 36 runs.