In the recently concluded Test series between Pakistan and New Zealand, debutant Colin de Grandhomme bowled a magical spell in his maiden innings picking 6 wickets conceding only 41 runs at Christchurch. It is an all-time New Zealand record for the best figures by a bowler in a debut innings. The Kiwi followed it up with another wicket in the second innings and finished with match figures of 7 for 64.
Let us have a look at the top 5 Indian bowlers with great debuts in Tests:
#5 Syed Abid Ali (6/55 and 1/61)
In an era where the Indian spin quartet was the dominant force in Indian cricket, Syed Abid Ali was rather underutilised in spite of being more than capable pace bowler. Apart from his bowling capabilities, he was a fielder par excellence and a very handy batsman in the lower-order.
During India’s tour Down Under in 1967/68, he played his first Test against the mighty Australians at the Adelaide Oval. A 6-wicket haul in which he conceded just 55 runs was not what the hosts were expecting from the debutant. Abid Ali’s spell restricted the Aussies to a moderate score but that did not help the Indians much in the long run as the visitors lost the match by 146 runs.
Though he continued to play regular cricket, his journey at the top level ended rather surprisingly after a great all-round show during the 1975 ICC Cricket World Cup. The aggressive cricketer was part of the Indian team which toured England in 1971 and won the first series on English soil. In the 29 Tests he featured in, Abid Ali took 47 wickets and scored 1018 runs playing his last match in Delhi, in 1974.
#4 Dilip Doshi (6/103 and 2/64)
Dilip Doshi was an extremely talented cricketer who could have gone on to prosper in the International arena but was overlooked due to the presence of Bishan Singh Bedi and always played second fiddle to the legendary spinner. Though he played domestic cricket for Bengal, Doshi was originally from Rajkot, in Gujarat.
The left-arm bowler made his Test debut in 1979 when he was 32 years old, and surprised everyone with his effective spell in which he took 6 wickets in the first innings against Australia at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. In what was otherwise a pretty dull match with loads of run being scored, the spinner took another couple of wickets in the second innings while the match ended in a draw.
In the next few years, he completed the landmark of taking 100 wickets in his 28th Test match and would have continued for a few years if he had not been involved in a disturbing relationship with Sunil Gavaskar. Doshi played his last Test in 1983 against Pakistan at the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium in Bangalore.
#3 Ravichandran Ashwin (3/81 and 6/47)
Ravichandran Ashwin is arguably one of the best all-rounders in the world at the present moment, in spite of being inducted to the team as a specialist bowler. The off-spinner made his debut against the West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi back in 2011.
The IPL sensation did not disappoint the selectors as he picked up 9 wickets in the match, with 3 in the first and a 6-wicket haul in the second innings respectively. After making a grand entry into International cricket, his form never dipped, and took wickets in all almost each and every innings he featured in. To complement his consistent bowling, he was gifted with the talent of batting as well.
The Chennai-based player scored a century in his third Test against the West Indies and has produced many useful performances with the bat in the following years. Recently he is being used as a specialist batsman, often promoted up the batting order. Ashwin is the currently the top-ranked all-rounder in the world in the longest format of the game.
#2 Mohammed Shami (4/71 and 5/47)
West Indies’ tour of India was memorable for more than a single reason, the first being the penultimate series of the great Sachin Tendulkar, the second being the birth of a very crafty swing bowler who would go on to become the spearhead of India’s bowling attack in the following years. The third one was the brilliant 177-run innings scored by debutant Rohit Sharma.
It was the 199th Test for the Master Blaster at the place of action was none other than the Iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
However, it was a local guy who took centre-stage. Playing at his home ground, Mohammed Shami took 4 wickets in the first innings followed by a 5-for in the second. The fierce bowling toppled the opposition’s batting line-up and India won the match by an innings and 51 runs.
Though his brilliance was partly overshadowed by the emotion of seeing the great man with the bat for the last time, yet the people of Kolkata appreciated the much hard worked effort of the two debutants. The Uttar-Pradesh born player has represented Bengal in the Ranji trophy throughout his career. So far, he has played 22 tests and picked up 76 wickets.
#1 Narendra Hirwani (8/61 and 8/75)
Narendra Hirwani was a bright prospect for the Indian cricket considering the fact that he was a proper leg-spinner after Bhagwat Chandrasekhar who apparently looked to make it big in the future. The Gorakhpur-born got his first break in 1988 when he was only 19 years old, but had an immediate impact due to his fairy-tale performance.
He took 16 wickets in the match against the visiting West Indies team in Chennai, picking up 8 in each of the two innings. Ending up with figures of 16 for 136, it is still the third best bowling figures ever in a test match. Following that, Hirwani took another 20 wickets in the next three tests, but a slide was on the way which would overshadow his dream start.
Things started to fall apart when India toured to other countries, in alien pitches which never aided the art of spin bowling. Successive failures in the West Indies, New Zealand, and England went down hard on him and he was eventually sidelined in 1990. Though he played a few Tests after that, he did not perform to book a regular berth in the playing XI.
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