Bowlers with five-wicket hauls in each format

Australia v India - Game 1

Cricket has perennially been a batsman's game with a majority of the rules and the playing conditions titled in their favor. People throng in thousands to watch their favorite batsman clobber the bowlers to all corners of the ground. However, if batsmen set up matches, it is the bowlers who win you matches and the ongoing tussle between South Africa and India bears testimony to just that.

The Indian bowlers, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, have been on quite a roll recently. While the wrist spinners have rightfully grabbed all the headlines, it is easy to forget the role played by India's new ball bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar. While Bhuvi was off colour in the ODI series, he made his presence felt in the first T20I. In a game where bowlers have been reduced to a bowling machine, Bhuvi, with his bag of tricks, including the slow cutters, made a deep impact by taking his first 5-wicket haul in T20Is.

Bhuvneshwar, who has four and one 5-wicket hauls in Test and ODI cricket, respectively, through this feat, joined an elite list of bowlers who have taken a 5-wicket haul in each format of the game.

Here are the other bowlers who have the same feat.


#1 Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka v Pakistan - ICC Champions Trophy

Tests: 3, ODIs: 7, T20Is: 1

The slinging fast bowler, possessing an offbeat action and having the toe-crushers as his primary weapon, is widely regarded as one of the best bowlers and certainly the best death bowler in the history of limited overs cricket.

With a freakish action and uncanny accuracy, Malinga announced himself with a six-wicket haul in his Test debut at Darwin against the mighty Aussies in 2004. He took two more five-wicket hauls in Test cricket thereafter but owing to constant injuries, Malinga played his last Test in 2011. The first bowler to take three hat-tricks in ODI cricket, Malinga remains one of the most mercurial fast bowlers of the 21st century.

His sole T20I five-wicket haul (5-31) came in a World T20 game against England, that powered the Sri Lankans to victory.

#2 Umar Gul, Pakistan

Pakistan v Australia - ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014
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Tests: 4, ODIs: 2, T20I: 2

Blessed with an inherent ability to swing the new as well as the old ball, Umar Gul is yet another product of the never-ending fast-bowling factory of Pakistan.

The skillful fast bowler, currently sidelined to the fringes, was picking up five-wicket hauls for fun during his peak. Gul's finest hour in Test cricket came against arch-rivals India at Lahore, where his incisive swing bowling broke the back of India's famed batting. Gul's 5-31 laid the cornerstone for the eventual Pakistan win that helped the hosts draw level the series 1-1 after a thumping in Multan.

Gul's stinging yorkers made him a dangerous proposition in the white ball arena, with a barely believable 6-5 against New Zealand in a World T20 game in 2009, bearing testimony to the aforementioned fact.

Gul, in his 10-year career, went on to take eight five-wicket hauls, including two in the shortest format of the game.

#3 Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lanka

England v Sri Lanka - 4th ODI: Royal London One-Day Series

Tests: 4, ODIs: 3, T20I: 2

The only bowler in the history to claim two 6-wicket hauls in a T20I, Ajantha Mendis, with a wide repertoire of variations in his arsenal, quickly became a mystery for the batsmen around the world. Mendis announced himself to the cricketing world when he ran through India's famed batting line-up to win Sri Lanka the final of Asia Cup 2008 with figures of 6-13. He continued his dominance over the Men in Blue in the succeeding Test series as well, bamboozling the likes of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and even the master Sachin Tendulkar.

However, Mendis, who took a total of nine 5-fers for Sri Lanka, was quickly found out and his downward spiral was as magnanimous as his rise.

#4 Tim Southee, New Zealand

New Zealand v India

Tests: 6, ODIs: 2, T20I: 1

A classical swing bowler, Tim Southee is yet another success story from that golden batch of the U-19 World Cup 2008 that included the likes of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Ravindra Jadeja and Steven Smith.

Blessed with immaculate control and incisive bowling, Southee, coupled with Trent Boult's raw pace, makes New Zealand's opening pair one of the most potent propositions in international cricket today. His skills were on full show against England in the World Cup of 2015, where he wreaked havoc against the English top-order, claiming seven wickets in the process.

Southee's sole T20I five-wicket haul came against Pakistan at Auckland in 2010, where he claimed figures of 5-18.

#5 Imran Tahir, South Africa

3rd ODI: South Africa v Australia

Tests: 2, ODIs: 2, T20I: 1

The oldest bowler to feature in this coveted list is the 38-year-old veteran leg-spinner for the Proteas, Imran Tahir. Famous for his exuberant celebratory run after claiming a wicket, Tahir is one of the most mercurial limited overs bowlers since the turn of 2010s.

Tahir announced himself to the cricketing world with consistent performances throughout the 2011 World Cup, bagging 14 wickets in the five games he played. His strides in limited overs cricket earned him a call-up to the Test side, where his finest moment arrived when he picked up a five-wicket haul against Pakistan (his native country) on the first day. Though Tahir couldn't hold on to his place in the Test side for a consistent period of time, his returns in white-ball cricket made him the heartbeat of the South African bowling attack.

The leg-spinner, who has been a bit out of the sorts in the series against India, which only epitomize South Africa's struggles, reached the zenith of limited overs cricket by becoming the number one ranked ODI and T20I bowler.

Tahir has accumulated 5 five-wicket hauls across formats, including one in the shortest format of the game, which came against New Zealand at Auckland in 2017, where his 5-24 played a pivotal role in South Africa's 78-run win.

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Edited by Sarah Waris