Top 5 Performances of Indian Bowlers in Tests in South Africa
India and South Africa will face each other in the test series of three games, with the first game starting this Sunday at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Indian team has never won a test series in South Africa and the upcoming series is their eighth tour to the Rainbow Nation. Team India might not have won a series in South Africa, but there were many memorable performances from the tour against the Proteas. From S Sreesanth's master class in 2006 to Jasprit Bumrah's appearance in Test Cricket in 2018, India had some great bowling appearances in South Africa.
Before India's much-anticipated eighth tour to South Africa, let's take a look at the top 5 appearances by Indian bowlers:
Sreesanth - 5/40 & 3/59 Johannesburg, 2006
Nobody can forget S Sreesanth's brilliance in 2006 when India recorded its first test victory in South Africa. Rahul Dravid's Indian team defeated South Africa with 123 runs in the first game of the series at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. After 249 runs in the first innings, the visitors bundled the Proteas for 84 runs thanks to a first-class bowling performance by Sreesanth, who chose 5 wickets in the first innings and three wickets in the second.
Jasprit Bumrah - 5/54 & 2/57 Johannesburg, 2018
Even after a good all-round performance on the field, India lost the first two tests of the three-game series. This was India's first loss of the test series after the 2014/15 Australian tour. However, India managed to win the last game in the series. Jasprit Bumrah, who was playing his first test series, had picked 7 wickets in the test, which included a five-wicket haul in the first innings.
This was Bumrah's first five wicket haul in test cricket and since then he has played 24 test matches and accumulated 101 wickets. The pacemaker will also lead India's bowling attack in the upcoming series.
Harbhajan Singh - 4/10 & 2/70 Durban, 2010
On the 2010 tour to South Africa, the Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh showed himself at his best. The off-spinner selected 4 wickets by giving away only 10 runs in the first innings of the second test match of the three-match series. South Africa were thrown for 131 runs in the first innings and they scored only 215 runs in their pursuit of 302 in the second innings. India won the Test match with 87 runs and this was their second victory in South Africa. Harbhajan also picked two wickets in the second innings and all of his wickets came at crucial times.
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Harbhajan Singh also has the best Indian bowler bowling figures in South Africa when he returned with the numbers 7/120 in the first innings of the third Test of the same series.
Anil Kumble - 2/60 & 6/53 Johannesburg, 1992
This was India's first test trip to South Africa and the first test ended in a draw. The second test also ended in a draw, but Anil Kumble showed some of his brilliance with the ball on a field conducive to fast-paced bowling. Kumble had picked six wickets in the second innings and two in the first.
This was also the first series of tests for South Africa at home after the ICC lifted the ban.
Javagal Srinath - 6/76 & 2/28 Port Elizabeth, 2001
After losing the start of the series in Bloemfontein, the Indian team managed to save the second test of the series in Port Elizabeth. Herschelle Gibbs scored 196 runs in the second Test, but that game is also remembered for the magical spell of India's Javagal Srinath of 6/76 that kept India's hopes alive of pulling the streak. Srinath also picked two wickets in the second innings, but the match ended in a draw.