Top 5 bowling spells by Graeme Swann
To state that Graeme Swann was a late bloomer in international cricket would be an understatement. Having made his England debut in the ODI format way back in 2000, Swann had to wait nearly eight years for his next crack at the highest level of the game.
But since making his Test debut against India in 2008 at the age of 29, there was no looking back for Swann who established himself as one of England's greatest spinners before his sudden retirement from international cricket midway through the 2013-14 Ashes series at the age of 34.
Swann is the first English spinner to take 50 wickets in a calendar year and rose to the top of the ICC World rankings for bowlers in ODIs in 2011.
Despite his Test career being limited to just 5 years, Swann finished with 255 wickets to his name from 60 Tests and was part of three consecutive Ashes series-winning sides for England.
Since his debut in December 2008 and up until his retirement, Swann was the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.
He was prolific in limited-overs cricket as well picking up 104 wickets from 79 ODIs and 51 wickets from 39 T20Is.
While Swann was always consistent with his bowling, there were times when he was simply unplayable and won the match for England almost single-handedly.
#5 - 8/113 vs India at Mumbai, 2nd Test, England's tour of India, 2012/13
England surprised many when they outplayed India in their own backyard to clinch the 4-match Test series 2-1 and the highlight of the series was their resounding win at Mumbai by 10 wickets.
The hosts started strongly as expected, winning the series opener at Ahmedabad but were in for a rude shock in the next game at Mumbai getting beaten at their own game - spin bowling.
England's spin duo of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann picked up 19 of the 20 Indian wickets to fall, with Gautam Gambhir's dismissal in the second ball of the match the lone exception.
Despite Gambhir's early dismissal, India managed to score 327 in the first innings with Swann picking up 4 wickets, including that of centurion Cheteswar Pujara and Yuvraj Singh.
Alastair Cook's 122 and a majestic 186 by Kevin Pietersen helped England take an 86-run first inning lead before the English spinners ran through the Indian batting order to set up an easy victory for the visitors.
Once again, it was Swann who dismissed Pujara while he also picked up India's leading run-scorer in the second innings - Gambhir - as well as the wicket of Virat Kohli.