Five Indian bowlers and their bunnies

India has perennially been a batting powerhouse, churning out top quality batsmen one after the other. From Vijay Manjrekar and Sunil Gavaskar in the 70s and 80s to the "fab four" (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman) in the late 90s and 2000s to Virat Kohli, the batting juggernaut just rolls on.

However, in a country obsessed with batting, there have been bowlers who, with their skills and tenacity, have managed to out-think and outdo some of the most renowned batsmen around the world, making them their 'bunny' in the process.

Here is a look at five of them:

#5 Anil Kumble - Adam Gilchrist

Anil Kumble was of India's greatest match winners and also their highest wicket-taker in Tests (619). Kumble had the aggression reminiscent of a fast bowler and passion akin to a warrior. He loved raising his game against the very best, and the 'very best' in the era that 'Jumbo' played was the Australian team that glittered with a plethora of match winners, one of them being Adam Gilchrist.

Gilchrist went about redefining the role of the wicket-keeper batsman in the 21st century, but even he couldn't fathom the guile and skill of Kumble. Gilchrist, who played an integral role in Australia winning their first ever Test series in India since 1969, fell to Kumble's trickery nine times in 18 encounters, roughly once in every two innings, making it a 50% success rate for the champion spinner.

#4 Kapil Dev - Mudassar Nazar

The India-Pakistan rivalry has been the custodian of intriguing sub-plots over the years. From Miandad-Chetan Sharma to Sachin Tendulkar-Shoaib Akhtar and now Virat Kohli-Mohammad Amir, the rivalries over the years have added to the magnanimity of the contest.

One subplot that was pivotal to the contest in the 80s was the battle between the great Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev and Pakistan's batsman Mudassar Nazar. Kapil and Mudassar faced off in a total of 18 Test matches from 1978-1984 out of which Dev accounted for him 12 times with an astounding success rate of 0.66.

In a glittering career that spanned over 16 years, Dev had quite a lot of batsmen around the world on tenterhooks, having dismissed greats like Allan Border and David Gower ten times.

#3 Ishant Sharma - Alastair Cook

When we talk about Ishant Sharma, Ricky Ponting's troubles outside the off stump against the tall fast bowler come to our mind instantly. Ishant accounted for Ponting seven times in 12 matches, however, he bore an equitable share of success against the great English opener, Alastair Cook.

Sharma's nagging full length outside the off-stump accounted for Cook eight times in ten Test matches with a success rate of 0.8. One of the most memorable dismissals of Cook was in the famous Lord's Test of 2014 where Sharma played on Cook's patience around the fourth stump, inducing an edge in the process. India went to win the match and Cook's dismissal at the fag end of the day was one of the key turning points of that game.

#4 Harbhajan Singh - Ricky Ponting

This is one rivalry that dominated the better part of the first decade of the new millennium. From fiery send-offs to court hearings, Harbhajan Singh was always at the heart of the India-Australia rivalry. He had an insatiable liking towards a certain Ricky Ponting, dismissing him ten times in fourteen encounters, the most by any bowler.

My arch nemesis when I was playing against India was Harbhajan Singh. I still get nightmares about him ~ Ricky Ponting

Ponting was also one of Harbhajan's victims when he recorded a famous hat-trick- the first in Tests for an Indian bowler in the Kolkata Test of 2001. Additionally, Harbhajan's 300th Test victim, which was his 200th wicket at home, was also Ponting.

#5 Zaheer Khan - Graeme Smith

Referred to as the Sachin Tendulkar of India's fast bowling department in the 21st century, Zaheer Khan was a key figure in India's surge in the cricketing world in the new millennium. The chief architect of famous Indian triumphs overseas, Zaheer was an artist with a bag of tricks at his disposal that could bamboozle the world's top batsmen.

Being a traditional left-arm bowler, Khan's strength lied in taking the ball away from the left-handed batsmen. One player to face the wrath of Khan was the Proteas skipper Graeme Smith.

Smith, who was one of the most virtuous batsmen from the rainbow nation, often struggled against both the inswingers as well as the outswingers delivered by Zaheer with the majority of his dismissals being bowled, LBW or caught behind the wicket. Zaheer, who completed his career with 311 wickets in 92 Test matches, accounted for Smith seven times in fifteen Tests with a success rate of 0.466, making him his bunny in the process.