5 Indian pacers who took 5 wickets in a home ODI besides Mohammed Shami

In just one spell on Friday, Mohammed Shami primed his value in India's team for the 2023 World Cup. Before the series against Australia, he was being considered as a back-up seamer behind Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

After he took 5/51 in the first innings of the first ODI, a debate raged on social media about whether Rohit Sharma and Co. should play him over Shardul Thakur, an all-rounder, even if comes at the price of batting depth.

It was that kind of spell. Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short and Sean Abbott. It included a piece of every segment of Australia's batting order. He used the tiniest of help available in the powerplay, accuracy in the middle-overs, and variation at the death - the holy grail of ODI fast bowling in India.

It's not a surprise that he became only the eighth non-spinner to pick an ODI five-wicket haul in India. Below, we'll look at five pacers who did it before him:

#5 Javagal Srinath

Often called as India's first true tearaway quick, Javagal Srinath was the first from the country to take an ODI five-wicket haul at home (February 1993 vs England). He was also the first to take two (November 1993 vs Sri Lanka). This was only his third year in international cricket.

In the match against England, at his home ground Chinnaswamy Stadium, he picked up the two openers, the legendary Mike Gatting (clean bowled) and two lower order batters.

All were beaten by pace after incisive spells of fearsome fast bowling on the stumps. Srinath regularly beat both edges of the bat as the ball just zipped off the surface like never seen before in India. He ended with 5/41.

He did the same against Sri Lanka but quicker. In 6.4 overs he took 5/24 including wickets of Asanka Gurusinha and Sanath Jayasuriya.

#4 Manoj Prabhakar

In both of these Srinath spells, he had Manoj Prabhakar as support from the other end. Not nearly as quick, Prabhakar was a brilliant operator of the out-swinger and one of the first to use the cutter to great effect in India.

Against Sri Lanka in 1994 in Hyderabad, he used the first skill to get rid of each of the first five batters, three of them caught behind.

He then became the second Indian and the last to pick a second fifer against New Zealand in Amritsar the following year. He got two top-order batters, including Martin Crowe, and ended up with 5/33 by cleaning up the tail.

#3 Ajit Agarkar

The current chief selector of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Ajit Agarkar would have certainly appreciated Shami's achievement. He picked up 5/44 against Sri Lanka in November 2005 to earn his team a four-wicket bilateral win.

In-form Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya were sent back in the fourth and the sixth overs in identical fashion: middle-stump deliveries that shaped in to catch them plumb LBW. Agarkar bamboozled Farveez Maharoof with a high full-toss before cleaning up tailenders Chaminda Vaas and Muthiah Muralidaran.

#2 S Sreesanth

S Sreesanth is the only Indian fast-bowler to pick six wickets in an ODI innings. Against England in Indore in 2006, it was a dead-rubber but Sreesanth being Sreesanth, he bowled with enough fire to light a circus. It had everthing, death stares, bouncers hitting the heads, dummy throws at the striker's end.

He started a bit loose, trying to use his away swingers, and was a tad unlucky too. But once he got used to hurling line and length at pace, he was almost unplayable. Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior were the first to falter against him before four lower-order batters went back trying to get some quick runs at the death.

The 6/55 here kicked of his small but promising career.

#1 Zaheer Khan - the last Indian before Mohammed Shami to pick an ODI fifer at home

Zaheer Khan was the last Indian before Shami to pick a fifer at home - as long back as 2007. What happened between 2007 and 2023? Well two new balls in ODIs, flatter pitches and bigger bats.

This was Zaheer's first and only fifer in ODIs. He forced Jayasuriya into edging the pull early on, caught Upul Tharanga LBW with a nip-backer and clean bowled Sangakkara for a four-ball duck for his first three wickets.

Sri Lanka did well to recover from 6/3 before Zaheer sent back Maharoof and Malinga Bandara to keep them down to 230/8, which the hosts chased with five wickets to spare.