3 Super Subs who won Man of the Match award
In 2005, the ICC had introduced a Super Sub rule in ODIs, which allowed teams to officially field their 12th man in place of any of their starting eleven members. This facility could be utilised at any stage of the match, irrespective of the number of overs bowled or remaining. However, once substituted, the player could play no further role in the match.
In July that year, England's Vikram Solanki created history by becoming cricket's first Super Sub when he replaced Simon Jones in an ODI against Australia at Headingley. But the experiment did not last long: come March 2006, the rule was officially scrapped since it almost always ended up favouring the side winning the toss.
Here, we trace the instances when a Super Sub made such an impact on a match that he ended up being the Man of the Match.
#1 Shane Bond, 6/19
New Zealand vs India, Bulawayo 2005
Brief Scores: New Zealand 215 in 43.1 overs (McMillan 54, McCullum 49; I Pathan 3/34) beat India 164 in 37.2 overs (JP Yadav 69, I Pathan 50; Bond 6/19) by 51 runs
In the second match of the tri-series involving hosts Zimbabwe, India and New Zealand, the Black Caps' move of roping in the dangerous fast bowler Shane Bond in place of top-order bat Nathan Astle proved to be a masterstroke. Irfan Pathan and his pace bowling colleagues Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar had bowled New Zealand out for 215, after which they decided to swap Bond for Astle citing the assistance that the Indian pacers had gained from the surface.
Also considering the lethal pace which Bond brought, the step was expected to yield good results. His swing and speed proved too hot to handle for India, who were reduced to a shambolic 44/8 inside the fourteenth over. Five of those wickets had gone to Bond, who then cleaned up Pathan for 50 to ensure the latter's ninth-wicket partnership of 118 with JP Yadav did not take India over the line, and finished with a career-best 6/19.