5 best Test bowling performances by Indians in the last decade
The decade that just went by saw Indian bowling, especially pace bowling, reach an unprecedented level of success. While the noughties were also witness to great pace bowling efforts from the likes of Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth, the second decade of the century saw Indian pacers terrorizing batsmen in a way few could have imagined earlier.
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The arrival of the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami along with the maturing of Ishant Sharma made India’s pace battery among the most formidable in the world. But let’s not forget India’s traditional strength of spin bowling; that prospered too, with the duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Pragyan Ojha also played a big role during his time in the Test team.
So as we enter the new decade with the Indian bowling attack being regarded as one of the most, if not the most, dangerous in the world, let us cast a nostalgic glance back at the five best Test bowling performances from Indian bowlers in the previous decade.
5. Umesh Yadav (5/93 vs Australia, Perth, 2012)
By the end of the last decade, the Indian pace bowling attack consisted of some of the fastest bowlers in the world. But the man who started this trend was Umesh Yadav, and he emerged on the scene in 2011. His best performance came in a match and a tour that was otherwise eminently forgettable for the Indian team.
At Perth, India got bowled out for just 161 on Day 1 and the Australian team had already reached 149/0 at the end of the last session. On Day 2, the Indian bowling attack performed much better and bowled out Australia for 369 - after they were 214/0 at one stage. The main man behind this brief success was Umesh Yadav.
Bowling at genuinely high speeds, he made full use of the pace and bounce that the WACA pitch was famous for. An Indian pace bowler troubling Aussie batsmen with speed was a sight that had rarely been seen till then. This performance was a silver lining amidst an utterly listless performance by the Indian team.