5 worst bowling figures in Test cricket in the 21st century
In an era of cricket supposedly favouring the batsmen more, the life of a bowler is tough, especially in Test cricket. One may go wicketless, spells after spells, but the belief should not be lost that they can pick up wickets and help their team win. In the history of the game, we have witnessed many instances where the bowlers have single-handedly taken their team towards victory. However, there have been players who, in a desperate need of wickets, ended up trying different variations that resulted in them being hit across all parts of the ground.
Let us have a look at five such bowlers who have the worst bowling figures in the 21st century:
Jason Krejza (Australia) – 12/358 vs India
During the Australia tour of India in 2008, Australian spinner Jason Krejza majorly contributed towards his team’s loss in the Test match at Nagpur. Batting first, India racked up 441 runs on the board owing to the expensive spell of Krejza. The spinner gave away 215 runs in his 43.5 overs at an economy of 4.90 while taking 8 wickets. In the second innings too, Krejza leaked 143 runs in his 31 overs at an economy of 4.61 while taking 4 wickets which resulted in the hosts clinching the Test by a massive 172 runs.
Keshav Maharaj (South Africa) – 5/318 vs India
South Africa were up against India in the first match of the three-match Test series at Visakhapatnam. The slow left-arm orthodox spinner Keshav Maharaj proved a little too costly for the visitors as he leaked a mammoth 318 runs in 77 overs (both innings) at an economy of 4.12. Throughout his spell, he bowled just six maiden overs and took five wickets. India registered victory in that match by a massive 203 runs and later claimed the Test series by 3-0.
Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 5/298 vs South Africa
South Africa registered a 3-1 win against Australia in their own country in 2018. One of the main highlights of the tour was the disastrous performance of Australia’s mainstay right-arm off-break bowler, Nathan Lyon in the final Test. In that particular match at Johannesburg, Lyon bowled one of the worst spells of his career as he gave away 298 runs in 81 overs, maintaining an economy of 3.67. His spell included five wickets of the opposite team and 16 maiden overs.
Yasir Shah (Pakistan) – 2/291 vs Australia
Australia had white-washed the visiting Pakistan team in the three-match Test series by 3-0 in 2016-17. During the third and final Test match, the hosts won the match by a massive 220 runs owing to some poor bowling by Pakistan team. One of the major contributors of this was leg-spinner Yasir Shah who leaked 291 runs in his combined spell of first and second innings. In his 54 overs, he bowled just two maiden overs and took two wickets at an economy of 5.38.
Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 12/286 vs India
The only bowler to feature twice in this list is Australian spinner, Nathan Lyon. In the first game of four-match Test series against India, Lyon leaked 286 runs at an economy of 4.07. However, he had compensated this by frequently picking the wickets of visitors. Lyon took a total 12 wickets in both the innings and was named as the Man of the Match for the same.
