5 instances where Indian bowlers were left completely clueless by the opposition batsmen
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was taken to the cleaners on SundayIndia suffered a 214-run loss in the final ODI against South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to eventually lose the 5 match ODI series 3-2. The Indian bowlers were sent on a leather hunt by the South African batsmen as they piled up a total of 438 for 4 in their 50 overs.This, though, wasn't the only instance when the Indian bowlers were carted to all parts of the ground. Here are 4 other instances.
#1 India vs Australia Johannesburg 2003 World Cup Final
This is a match that won't be forgotten by many Indian cricket fans. India took on Australia in the final of the 2003 World Cup final at Johannesburg and after winning the toss, skipper Sourav Ganguly opted to field first, leaving many a spectator confused over the decision.
That call backfired dramatically, as Australia started to attack the Indian bowlers to all corners from the word go and after the opening pair of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist had been dismissed, skipper Ricky Ponting continued the assault and along with Damien Martyn for company, added 234 runs for the third wicket to help Australia post 359 for 2 in 50 overs.
Javagal Srinath was smashed for 87 runs in his 10 overs, Zaheer Khan went for 67 runs in his 7 overs. Ashish Nehra, who was one of India’s best bowlers along with Zaheer in the tournament up till that point, was also not spared, going for 57 in his quota of overs. Harbhajan Singh was the only one who got among the wickets, picking up 2 for 49 in 8 overs.
Even the part-timers like Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar etc were not spared.
In reply, India were dented severely right at the start as Glenn McGrath picked up the prized scalp of Tendulkar in the very first over and despite Sehwag trying his best to keep India in the match, it proved to be too big a task and they eventually were bowled out for 234, to hand the Aussies their second consecutive World Cup crown.