India and South Africa will face each other in the three-match Test series, with the first game starting this Sunday at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. The 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 may not have managed to win a series in South Africa, but there were many memorable performances from the traveling side against the Proteas. From S Sreesanth’s masterclass in 2006 to the rise of Jasprit Bumrah in Test cricket in 2018, India had witnessed some great bowling performances in South Africa.
Ahead of India’s highly anticipated eighth tour to South Africa, let’s take a look at the top 5 performances by Indian bowlers:
Sreesanth- 5/40 & 3/59 Johannesburg, 2006
No one can forget the brilliance of S Sreesanth in 2006, when India recorded their first Test victory in South Africa. The Indian team led by Rahul Dravid had defeated South Africa by 123 runs in the first game of the series at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. After scoring 249 runs in the first innings, the visitors bundled the Proteas for 84 runs thanks to a first-class bowling performance by Sreesanth, who took 5 wickets in the first innings, followed by three wickets in the second.
Jasper Bumrah- 5/54 & 2/57 Johannesburg, 2018
Even after a good all-round display on the pitch, India lost the first two tests of the three-game series. This was India’s first loss in a Test series after the 2014/15 Australian tour. However, India managed to win the final match of the series. Jasprit Bumrah who played 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 picked up 101 wickets. The pacer will also spearhead India’s bowling attack in the upcoming series.
Harbhajan Singh- 4/10 & 2/70 Durban, 2010
During the 2010 tour to South Africa, Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh was at his best. The off-spinner took 4 wickets by giving up just 10 runs in the first innings of the second Test game of the three-game series. South Africa were thrown out for 131 runs in the first innings and they scored only 215 runs in the second innings in their pursuit of 302. India won the test game by 87 runs and this was their second win in South Africa. Harbhajan also took two wickets in the second innings and all his wickets came at crucial moments.
Harbhajan Singh also has the best bowling figures of an Indian bowler in South Africa as he returned with the figures of 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 tour 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 bowling. Kumble had taken six wickets in the second innings and also two in the first.
This was also the first test series for South Africa at home after ICC lifted the ban on them.
promoted
Javagal Srinath- 6/76 & 2/28 Port Elizabeth, 2001
After losing the series opener in Bloemfontein, the India 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 Javagal Srinath’s magic spell of 6/76 that kept India’s hopes alive to pull the series. Srinath also took two wickets in the second innings, but the game ended in a draw.
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