3 Indian pacers to take 5-wicket hauls vs Australia in ODIs 

Star Indian pacer Mohammed Shami delivered a great spell and returned with 5/51 in the first ODI between India and Australia in Mohali on Friday, September 22.

With several first-choice players rested for the first two ODIs, KL Rahul led the Indian team and chose to bowl first after winning the toss.

Rahul handed the new ball to Shami, who made a superb start by dismissing Mitchell Marsh in the first over of the match. He also castled Steve Smith in the middle overs before taking three key wickets at the back end to complete his fifer.

With his brilliant spell, Shami became only the third Indian pace bowler to take a five-wicket haul against Australia in ODIs. He joined Kapil Dev and Ajit Agarkar on the list.

In this article, we will take a look at each of these three five-wicket hauls by the Indian pacers against Australia in more detail.

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#3. Kapil Dev - 5/43 at the ODI World Cup 1983 in Nottingham

Kapil Dev - A True Indian legend [Getty Images]

During India's famous run at the 1983 ODI World Cup, they endured their only defeat in a group stage game against Australia at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. However, India had some positives to take away from the loss as well, with Kapil Dev's five-wicket haul being one of them.

After Australia opted to bat first, the Indian captain drew the first blood by sending back opener Kepler Wessels. However, a 114-run partnership between Trevor Chappell and Kim Hughes rebuilt the Australian innings.

A two-wicket haul by Madan Lal, however, brought India back into the game before Dev returned to clean out the Australian lower-order and the tail. The former Indian captain took the wickets of Rod Marsh, Ken MacLeay, Tom Hogan and Geoff Lawson to end up with the figures of 12-2-43-5.

Despite Dev's fifer, Australia had scored enough runs on the boaed. With Chappell's century, the Aussie unit piled up 320 runs in the first innings before winning the game by 162 runs.

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#2. Ajit Agarkar - 6/42 at the VB Series in Melbourne in 2004

Ajit Agarkar bagged six-wicket vs Australia in 2004 [Getty Images]

Team India's current chief selector Ajit Agarkar is second on the list. The former right-arm pacer is one of the most underrated ODI players for India, having taken 288 wickets across 188 innings.

His most notable bowling spell also came in a loss against Australia. During the first game of the VB Series 2004 between India and Australia, Agarkar took six wickets.

On a lively Melbourne pitch, he moved the ball both ways and sent Australia reeling at 89/4. Inside the first 11 overs, he sent back three quality batters in Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn.

India, however, became complacent after taking an early advantage as fifties from Michael Clarke (63) and Andrew Symonds (88) led the recovery for Australia.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly them handed the ball to Agarkar once again and the right-armer didn't let his skipper down as he dismissed Symonds in the 44th over. Bowling the 49th over, Agarkar took two more wickets, of Ian Harvey and Brad Williams, and ended the innings with 6/42.

It was indeed a special performance from Agarkar as it helped India bundle down Australia for 288 in 48.3 overs.

Despite fifties from Ganguly (82) and Sachin Tendulkar (63), India failed to chase down the total as the Men in Yellow won the game by 18 runs.

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#1. Mohammed Shami - 5/51 in the 1st ODI in Mohali in 2023

Mohammed Shami celebrating with Ishan Kishan [Getty Images]

The latest entrant on the list, Mohammed Shami became only the third Indian fast bowler to complete a five-wicket haul against Australia in one-day cricket. As mentioned earlier, he took 5/51 in the first of the three ODIs against the Pat Cummins-led Australia.

Bowling with the new ball, Shami nipped one away from Mitchell Marsh to send back the all-rounder on the third ball of the innings. He bowled four overs on the trot before going off the field to recover from the hot and humid conditions in Mohali.

In his second spell, Shami bowled a brilliant in-swinger and castled a well-set Steve Smith for 41 runs. The dismissal put India on the front foot once again.

While Shami has always been a top-quality bowler in the initial and middle phases of an inning, his death bowling has often been criticized. However, on Friday, Shami exhibited some clinical death bowling as he took crucial blows to puncture the Australian innings.

Shami clean bowled a dangerous-looking Marcus Stoinis (29 off 21) in the 47th over before taking the wickets of Matthew Short (2) and Sean Abbott (2) in the 49th over to reach to his second ODI fifer.

Following his blazing spell, Shami also became the second-highest Indian wicket-taker in the ODIs against Australia. He surpassed Ajit Agarkar (36 wickets) on the list. Shami has now taken 37 wickets across 22 ODI innings against the Oceania country. Kapil Dev tops the list with 45 wickets.