5 most iconic bowling spells by an Indian
Indian Cricket's history is replete with instances where the team has had to pin all their hopes on a batsman (or batsmen) to see the side through. A lion's share of India's most memorable victories has been scripted on the back of some splendid innings from their world-renowned batsmen.
Quite a few era-defining batters have donned the blue of India over the years and as a result, every Indian team which takes the field has to carry with it the tag of a batting-heavy side. Yet, amidst this overabundance of unforgettable innings, there stand out a few bowling spells which are spoken of in the same breath.
Here, we have compiled a list of five such iconic bowling spells which deserve to be a part of the list of Team India's best performances on a cricket field.
#5 S Sreesanth vs South Africa (Johannesburg, 2006)
The Indian team came into the first test of the four-match series on the back of a clobbering from the South Africans in the ODI series. Add to that the fact that India had never registered a test win in the African country till then.
Rahul Dravid won the toss and chose to have a go with the bat first only to lose both his openers cheaply. The spine of the team then, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly, registered scores of 32, 44, 28 and 51 respectively, as India bundled out with 249 runs on the board.
What followed was a complete annihilation of the famed South African batting line up - four Proteas batsmen sent packing by the eighth over, and the rest by the 26th. Five of the 10 South African wickets were bagged by Sreesanth, who finished with figures of 10-3-40-5. With the wind aiding a bit of movement in the air and a considerable purchase off the pitch, the Kerala speedster wreaked havoc on the hosts' batsmen.
His list of victims included the likes of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Shaun Pollock as South Africa collapsed for 84.
On the back of VVS Laxman's half century, India handed a target of 402 runs for the hosts to chase and ultimately recorded their first win on South African soil. Sreesanth was named man of the match for the eight wickets he picked.