India vs South Africa: Bhuvneshwar Kumar first Indian pacer to take five-fors in all formats

Bhuvneshwar Kumar collecting a throw during the first T20I between India and South Africa (Photo: BCCI)

By bagging his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is during the first match of the series against South Africa on Sunday, Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the first Indian fast bowler to bag a five-wicket haul in each format of the game. 

India scored 203/5 batting first and then restricted the hosts to 175/9, thanks to Bhuvneshwar's 5/24, for a 28-run win to take 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

His best bowling figures in Tests read 6/82 and in ODIs 5/42.

The last over of Bhuvneshwar's spell, which was the 18th of SA innings, saw him take three of his five wickets; however, he missed out on a hat-trick. In all, India claimed four wickets in those six balls, including the run-out of Dane Paterson (1) off the last.

Hendricks became Bhuvneshwar's first wicket in the over, after which he removed Heinrich Klaasen (16) and Chris Morris (0) as well to put an end to SA hopes. In his opening spell, Bhuvneshwar claimed the wickets of opener JJ Smuts (14) and captain JP Duminy (3).

Asked about his five-wicket haul, he said: “Taking wickets means a lot to me when you play for your country. It doesn't matter if you take five wickets or how many as long as you're winning matches for your country. That's what matters and taking fifers (five-wicket hauls) in every format feels good. I want to do it as long as possible.”

Bhuvi said batting first on the Wanderers pitch gave them ample idea about the nature of the wicket and it helped when they returned to defend their total.

“After we batted, we had a certain idea of the kind of wicket we would be bowling on after what we saw. But the whole picture begins to emerge only after you've bowled because it depends on the bowlers," he said.

“What I was trying to do is bring about change of pace in my bowling. I just wanted to take the pace off the ball because I knew it won't be easy to hit the ball and that's what I did. The important thing is how you mix your deliveries according to the wicket."

(With PTI inputs)