5 most iconic bowling spells by an Indian

Indian Cricket's history is replete with instances where the team has had to pin all their hopes on a batsman (or batsmen) to see the side through. A lion's share of India's most memorable victories has been scripted on the back of some splendid innings from their world-renowned batsmen.

Quite a few era-defining batters have donned the blue of India over the years and as a result, every Indian team which takes the field has to carry with it the tag of a batting-heavy side. Yet, amidst this overabundance of unforgettable innings, there stand out a few bowling spells which are spoken of in the same breath.

Here, we have compiled a list of five such iconic bowling spells which deserve to be a part of the list of Team India's best performances on a cricket field.

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#5 S Sreesanth vs South Africa (Johannesburg, 2006)

The Indian team came into the first test of the four-match series on the back of a clobbering from the South Africans in the ODI series. Add to that the fact that India had never registered a test win in the African country till then.

Rahul Dravid won the toss and chose to have a go with the bat first only to lose both his openers cheaply. The spine of the team then, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly, registered scores of 32, 44, 28 and 51 respectively, as India bundled out with 249 runs on the board.

What followed was a complete annihilation of the famed South African batting line up - four Proteas batsmen sent packing by the eighth over, and the rest by the 26th. Five of the 10 South African wickets were bagged by Sreesanth, who finished with figures of 10-3-40-5. With the wind aiding a bit of movement in the air and a considerable purchase off the pitch, the Kerala speedster wreaked havoc on the hosts' batsmen.

His list of victims included the likes of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Shaun Pollock as South Africa collapsed for 84.

On the back of VVS Laxman's half century, India handed a target of 402 runs for the hosts to chase and ultimately recorded their first win on South African soil. Sreesanth was named man of the match for the eight wickets he picked.

#4 Stuart Binny vs Bangladesh (Dhaka, 2014)

Already 1-0 ahead in the three-match ODI series, the visitors were confident of wrapping it up in the second match. Mushfiqur Rahim, who was leading Bangladesh, invited the Indian team to have a go with the bat first up.

In a near-perfect debut, Taskin Ahmed removed five of Indian batsmen and helped his team restrict the opponents to a meagre total of 105 runs. The stage was set for Bangladesh to get the job done and make the third match of the series a decider, which was to be played at the same venue. Stuart Binny, though, wasn't having any of it.

After Mohit Sharma had given the team a head start by clearing both the openers, Binny, within 28 deliveries, scalped half a dozen wickets, gave away just four runs and finished with astonishing figures of 4.4-2-4-6 - India's best in ODIs.

Bangladesh were bundled out before even reaching the 60-run mark as India secured the series.

#3 Ashish Nehra vs England (Durban, 2003)

Both the teams had their task cut out. With just one group stage match each remaining and that too against their respective arch-rivals, India and England knew that a win in this game would help them go into the last match with a better shot at making the super six.

Ganguly, after having won the toss, opted to put up a target for England to chase in the second innings. Riding on a phenomenal 50-run knock from the Master Blaster and a rather watchful 72-ball-62 from Rahul Dravid, India added 250 runs within their quota of 50 overs.

The onus, which was more often than not on Tendulkar in the World Cup, was on the bowlers now to stop the Three Lions from creating a roadblock in India's path to the next round. Mohammad Kaif played his part in the field by drawing first blood as he ran Nick Knight out in the second over of the chase itself.

While Zaheer Khan added to England's misery by removing Trescothick from the way, it was Ashish Nehra who took the game by the scruff of its neck and turned the English batting line up to dust in an uninterrupted 10-over spell.

After being handed the ball by Ganguly in the 13th over, the Delhi speedster broke the English spine, accounting for six wickets which included the likes of Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain, Alec Stewart and Paul Collingwood. A prolific display of seam bowling, Nehra finished with figures of 10-2-23-6 by the 31st over and left England reeling on 107/8.

India ultimately went on to win the match by 82 runs.

#2 Harbhajan Singh vs Australia (Kolkata, 2001)

There was an aura of invincibility surrounding the touring Australian side back in 2001. The visitors stamped their authority immediately, winning the first test of the three-match series by 10 wickets in Mumbai on the third day itself. Few had given India a chance in the second test against a rampant Australian side which had piled up 15 consecutive test wins.

Things were going according to the script on the first day of the test match. Michael Slater and Matthew Hayden amassed 103 runs for the opening wicket and subsequently, Hayden and Langer added another 90 for the second before Harbhajan Singh prevented the former from completing his century.

Two more wickets, that of Langer and Mark Waugh, fell shortly after as the hosts found them putting a check on the Aussie momentum. And then, the Turbanator struck.

71.2 - Harbhajan to Ponting, out.

71.3 - Harbhajan to Gilchrist, out.

71.4 - Harbhajan to Warne, out.

Within a span of three deliveries, Bhajji turned the match on its head and gave India a rope, and a long one at that, to hang on. Though Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie added 133 runs for the ninth wicket, the off-spinner got them both ultimately, finishing with figures of 37.5-7-123-7.

In reply to Australia's 445, India's first innings with the bat saw them somehow add up 171 runs, only to be called back to bat by Waugh. We won't be shedding much light on what happened next, as Laxman and Dravid redefined the very meaning of a comeback.

Chasing 384 runs in the fourth innings even after enforcing a follow on, the 'world-beaters' fell short by 171 runs, with Bhajji playing the tormentor-in-chief yet again by bagging six more Aussie wickets.

#1 Anil Kumble vs Pakistan (Delhi, 1999)

This performance from Anil Kumble can be kept right up there with Laxman's 281 on the list depicting India's finest performances in the longest format of the sport.

Pakistan made the trip across the border to battle their neighbours and arch-rivals in a test series after a gap of nine long years. Living up to the billing, the first test in Chennai was a humdinger where the visitors denied India a win by a small margin of 12 runs.

The stakes were high and losing a test to their feisty neighbours in the nation's capital was not one of the options, and there was the question of equalling the two-match series as well. Mohammad Azharuddin elected to bat first at the Feroz Shah Kotla as India somehow managed to add up 252 runs. Saqlain Mushtaq, extracting every ounce of spin from the Kotla pitch, bagged his third fifer of the series in three innings.

Subsequently, Indian spin duo of Harbhajan and Kumble shared seven wickets among them and halted Pakistan's innings at 172. With not much margin of error, the Pakistani off-break bowler added another fifer to his kitty, making it a perfect four in four innings.

With his counterpart stamping his authority on the game, and how, Kumble had to lead from the front being India's premier spinner. However, few would have predicted what was to unfold on the fourth day of the test match.

Chasing a target of 420 runs with one more day in hand, Pakistan started strong and were in the driver's seat as their openers added up 101 runs before Kumble began weaving his magic. The leg-spinner sent Afridi and Ijaz Ahmed packing on consecutive deliveries. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf were the next two victims of Kumble's leg spin, before Moin Khan and Saeed Anwar trudged their way back to pavilion as well in consecutive overs from the Karnataka bowler.

Saleem Malik's wicket some 16 overs later in the Pakistani innings exposed the tail and a perfect 10 was in Kumble's sight. Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq fell on back-to-back deliveries as well and Kumble was just a wicket away from equalling Jim Laker's then 45-year-old record.

Wasim Akram became the leg spinner's 10th scalp of the innings as Kumble registered never-before-seen figures of 26.3-9-74-10 and India registered a thumping victory by 212 runs to end the series on level terms.