5 times the Indian team struggled against left arm seamers

Left-hand bowlers are always a treat to watch. They are always a precious asset to the team and most of the team use them as trump-card bowlers because of the natural variation they possess, which is to make the straight delivery look like it has done something when it moves away from the right-handed batsman. Left-handed bowlers have always been creating problems for most batsmen and Indian batsmen are no exception.

Akash Chopra rightly commented that life's better in cricket if you are a left-handed batsman or bowler. Now let's look at few instances where left-arm seamers baffled the Indian batting lineup.

#1 India Vs Pakistan, Coca-Cola Cup finals, 1998/99

India looked confident before the finals, as they had won all of their games in the seven-game event. England was out of contention after losing their first 3 games, two of them to India. The finals were all set between the two teams, India and Pakistan.

After winning the toss, India elected to bat first. Wasim Akram, widely known as the sultan of swing, started the proceedings by picking up 2 wickets in 2 balls in the first over of the match by bamboozling the opener Sadagoppan Ramesh and Rahul Dravid.

Ramesh got out in 3 balls of which the first one was struck in front of the wickets but the batsman was lucky enough to get away with it. The third ball he faced was a similar one, but this time the umpire had no hesitation in raising his finger.

Dravid was the next victim and he was shocked by a Jaffa. Thereafter, India hardly recovered from the blow and later he drew last blood.

Wasim Akram led their bowling attack with his impressive swing bowling and was adjourned the man of the match in the finals of the Coca-Cola Cup for his 3/11 in 8 overs.

#2 India vs Sri Lanka (Coca-cola Cup finals,2000)

Chaminda Vaas celebrates a wicket

The Asian tigers, Sri Lanka, have always been a tough competitor to the Indian side.

The Lankans, after winning the toss, chose to bat first and posted a mammoth total of 299 on the board. Captain Sanath Jayasuriya, after scoring his highest individual score of 189, broke many records.

The Indian side was under pressure to chase down a target of 300. The skipper of the Indian side, Sourav Ganguly fell in the third over to Vaas.

Following the path of the captain, Tendulkar got out in the next over that Vaas bowled. With all the arsenal needed for being a great bowler in his bag, Vaas wreaked havoc on the Indian batting line-up, taking 5 wickets. He sliced through Ganguly, Sachin and rest of the Indian lineup with ease.

Vaas did heavy damage to the Indian side, who were already crushed by Jayasuriya's 189. India could post only 54 runs, which is also one of the lowest score in ODI's.

Chaminda Vaas' figures of 5/14 was his personal best at that time.

#3 India vs Australia (DLF Cup, 2006)

Mitchell Johnson's bowling outclassed the Indian batting attack

This was the time when the Australia dominated world cricket under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting. They were just too good, it seemed, for any team.

It was the third game of the DLF Cup, and Australia was restricted to just 244. Harbhajan Singh was the pick amongst the bowlers. The rain created havoc and the target was revised.

Now India needed 179 in 29 overs. Mitchell Johnson ripped through the Indian batting line-up with his pace, swing, and seam. Rahul Dravid was the first victim, followed by the rest of the Indian batting side.

The Indian batting side was completely annihilated by the pace and swing. Although it ended with no result, Johnson clearly dominated the Indian batting side with his 4 wickets. India was down to 35/5, with Raina at the crease and Dhoni to come.

Ricky Ponting in the post-match conference said "He (Johnson) got us a couple of vital breakthroughs in the first game and tonight, he was brilliant. He's got the pace, he's a left-arm and he can swing it. That's why we are all excited about him. The idea is to give him a few games under his belt. As far as I can see, he is improving every game, and an outing like tonight will do him a world of good."

#4 India vs Bangladesh (Second ODI, 2015)

Mustafizur Rahman starred in dismantling India

Bangladesh, often termed as the underdogs of international cricket, proved it wrong after winning 5 ODI series in their home. They started the winning streak against Pakistan and continued to beat India, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Afghanistan. It was clearly the rise of the Bangladesh cricket.

After winning the first match of the 3-game series, Bangladesh was very positive and looked strong. They continued their dominance in the second game as well. Mustafizur Rahman was the star of the match.

His yorkers were bang on target and beautifully disguised slow deliveries worked out really well. None of the batsmen could pick him up. Rohit Sharma was the first one to go. Later in the innings, Raina and Dhoni looked well set when Mustafizur triggered a staggering collapse. The tail-enders were absolutely perplexed.

He picked up 6 wickets in his 10 over bowling quota by giving away just 43 runs, which was quite brilliant. After Mustafizur Rahman's wonderful bowling performance, the Bangladeshi batsmen did the rest to seal their first ever bilateral series win against India.

Mustafizur followed up his five-for on debut with a six-wicket haul in the second game, becoming only the second bowler after Zimbabwe's Brian Vitori to take fifers in their first two ODIs.

#5 India vs Pakistan (Champions Trophy final, 2017)

Mohammad Amir starred in Pakistan's Champions Trophy win

Pakistan lost their first match by 124 runs against India in the Champions Trophy. They looked under-confident and were under heavy criticism. Nobody would have imagined at this point that they would go on to win the title.

India won the toss and chose to bowl. Virat's team thought they could chase down any target set by the Pakistan. But Pakistan proved them wrong by winning the Champions Trophy. Fakhar Zaman's first ODI century helped Pakistan reach a huge total of 338. Rohit Sharma and Dhawan walked in with a positive mindset, but Mohammad Amir absolutely neutralised India by taking the sting out of its batsmen.

Amir trapped Rohit in front with an inswinging delivery in the first over of the innings and in the third over of the innings, Kohli edged it to the slips, but it was dropped by Azhar.

The next ball was an unplayable delivery which darted away from Kohli, who tried to flick the ball. Later in the innings, the bowler got Dhawan too. Amir's triple strike lead to the downfall of the Indian batting side in the historic finals of the Champions trophy.