Yuzvendra Chahal Records Best Figures For An Indian At Melbourne Cricket Ground

Yuzvendra Chahal picked up the Australian middle and lower-order batting line-up to bag his the second five-wicket haul of his ODI career during the series decider against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Replacing Kuldeep Yadav with Yuzvendra Chahal proved to be a masterstroke by Virat Kohli. Last year, both men had bowled India to a historic ODI series win over South Africa but in the first two ODIs against Australia, Kuldeep was the preferred wrist-spinner for India. However, Chahal came in for the final ODI against Australia after Kuldeep went for 66 runs without taking a wicket off his 10 overs in Adelaide.

The wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also recorded the best figures by an Indian bowler at the MCG. Former Indian pacer Ajit Agarkar had earlier recorded the identical figures of six for 42 in 2004 against Australia. The 28-year-old also recorded the best bowling figures in ODIs along with Agarkar in Australia. His heroics with the ball also helped the visiting India to bundle Australia to 230 runs.

Chahal became the first spinner to take a six-wicket haul in ODIs in Australia. The previous best figures for a spinner belonged to current India coach Ravi Shastri.

Before Chahal, only seven spinners had taken ODI five-wicket hauls in Australia: Abdul Qadir (5/53) v Australia (MCG, 1984), R Shastri (5/15) v Australia (Perth, 1991), Shane Warne (5/33) vs West Indies (SCG, 1996), Saqlain Mushtaq (5/29) v Australia (Adelaide, 1996), Jimmy Adams (5/37) v Pakistan (Adelaide, 1996), Brad Hogg (5/32) v West Indies (MCG, 2005), Imran Tahir (5/45) v West Indies (SCG).