Playing in the sub-continent, the Indian team is absolutely unplayable. Spanning from extraordinary batting to some insane bowling, as soon as India steps out of the continent, things change completely. The dynamics shift, the equations change and the momentum changes hands.
Talking about insane bowling, Indian bowlers haven’t been out of the blue outside India. They have stumbled and stuttered, being hammered and quartered and have been also subjected to arrant chagrin. However, there were a few performances in England from Indian bowlers that did make England shudder.
Following the footsteps of Ishant Sharma’s seven-star performance, the showdowns by the Indian bowlers got more wasteful and there were hardly outings that would inspire hopes. However, in the face of calamity and limited performances, we will bring you the five most impressive bowling performances by Indians in England in the last five years.
#5 Ravichandran Ashwin – 4 for 62
A batting collapse in the second innings cost India dearly. However, the magic happened in the first innings with Mohammad Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin running riots. Shami claimed the crucial scalps of Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan and Sam Curran.
However, the magic was forged by the elite Indian off-spinner, Ravi Ashwin as he hammered the English batting line-up left and right. Ashwin’s exploits started with Alistair Cook and pervaded to the million-dollar wicket of Ben Stokes. The next man to take the long walk to the pavilion was Jos Buttler who couldn’t move his legs from the line of the stumps. Ash’s final claim was Stuart Broad who lost his path in the middle, helping Ashwin to register figures of 4 for 62.
#4 Jasprit Bumrah – 4 for 46
In the ongoing Test match against England, India sailed decently on the first day, thanks to a rock-solid performance from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami. Until tea, England seemed comfortably settled with Bairstow and Joe Root belting out a few impeccable strokes. However, just at the stroke of the third session, Shami, Bumrah and Shardul Thakur struck in quick succession to destabilize the English innings.
Bumrah emerged as the pick of the slew as he claimed the wickets of Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Stuart Broad and James Anderson, knocking out England for 183.
#3 Jasprit Bumrah – 5 for 85
It was a magical showdown from India’s best fast bowler that helped India clinch a remarkable victory against England at Trent Bridge. Chasing a monumental target of 521, England was jolted to a rude awakening when Ishant Sharma removed the two openers for cheap.
Bumrah started his exploits with the imperative wicket of Joe Root but he still had to wait a bit longer to join the party. He brewed a storm so strong that it blew the English tail in no time, starting his onslaught with Jos Buttler after a humdinger century from the boisterous hard-hitting English batsman. Bairstow, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes couldn’t weather the belligerence from Bumrah and the rest they say was history.
#2 Ishant Sharma – 5 for 51
Despite being taken out from the equation in the shorter formats of the game, Ishant Sharma came back hammering in Test cricket. After an illustrious showdown from Ashwin and Shami in the opening innings of the same match, it was Ishant who stunned England in the second.
After a slender lead in the first innings, England was seen tottering on the fringes of a breakdown with Ishant tearing apart the English batting line-up. Sharma joined the party late as he claimed the scalps of Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and finally Stuart Broad. Despite this five-star performance, India couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity as they were bundled out for 162, 31 adrift of the target.
#1 Hardik Pandya – 5 for 28
If the second innings belonged to Bumrah, the first belonged to Pandya. Though he is no longer the bowler that he used to be, Pandya was absolutely sublime in the first innings, restricting England to a paltry 161.
Root was the first one to depart as KL Rahul pouched a simple take to start with Pandya’s claims. Jonny Bairstow was the next one to follow suit with Rahul bagging his second catch. His last three picks of the game were Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and Stuart Broad.
Another notable recommendation will definitely be Mohammad Shami’s five-wicket haul against New Zealand in the WTC final, however, that has not been enlisted because this story is about bowlers who chronicled the feat against England.
