Typically, cricket players, bowlers or batsmen, take their time before making their international debut. Participating at the U-19 or U-16 level helps a budding star develop his skills and increases his capacity for handling pressure.
For a bowler, overcoming the nerves of an International game debut and then dismissing a batsman on the first ball deserves to be applauded, regardless of how mediocre a bowler ends up being.
When a cricket bowler makes his international debut, it is not easy to play him in the first few matches. A new bowler always makes a terrific first impression, challenging the batsmen with his unusual line and length. Taking a wicket on the first delivery of a debut is thus a one-of-a-kind achievement for the debutant that should be applauded.
Here are 5 bowlers who took their first wicket in an ODI with their first ball on their debut:
5. Fidel Edwards (West Indies)
Fidel Edwards
Fidel Edwards made his ODI debut for West Indies against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2003. This was the fourth match of the 5-ODI series, which had Zimbabwe leading 2-1. Heath Streak, Zimbabwe captain won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Wavell Hinds struck 127* and Chris Gayle made 51 runs as the opening pair added 96 runs in 15 overs. Ramnaresh Sarwan further added 47 runs the rain reduced 45-overs per-side match, as West Indies posted 256/3.
In response, Fidel Edwards bowling his first over on debut, removed Barney Rogers clean bowled on his first ball in ODIs. He further went on to claim the wickets of Vusi Sibanda, Mark Vermeulen, Craig Wishart, Stuart Matsikenyari, and Tatenda Taibu, to finish with 6/22 in 7 overs on his ODI debut.
4. Shane Thomson (New Zealand)
Shane-Thomson. (Photo Source: Twitter)
India and New Zealand clashed in the first match of the 1990 Rothmans Cup triangular series in New Zealand, which also featured Australia. This match was played in Dunedin and had Shane Thomson, a spin all-rounder making his ODI debut for the Kiwis.
Mohammed Azharuddin won the toss and chose to bowl first. Thanks to Martin Crowe’s 104 and 78* from Ken Rutherford, New Zealand posted 246/6 in 47 overs. In response, India was bowled out for 138 runs with WV Raman tops-scoring with 32 and Kiran More making 23*. The best bowler for Kiwis proved to be debutant Shane Thomson.
Thomson picked up two wickets in his first over on his ODI debut. He first got Mohammed Azharuddin out on the first ball of his ODI career and then one ball later, had Sachin Tendulkar out for a duck. He finished with 3/19 in 6 overs with Ajay Sharma becoming his third victim as New Zealand won by 108 runs.
3. Monde Zondeki (South Africa)
Monde-Zondeki. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Monde Zondeki of South Africa is a curious case of a bowler, who had a lot of potential, but injuries curtailed his international career to 6 Tests, 13 ODIs, and 1 T20I. Zondeki made an impressive ODI debut to boot.
His first match for South Africa in ODIs was against Sri Lanka. It was the fifth ODI of the series, played in Bloemfontein. Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first. They posted 228/8 in 50 overs with Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara scoring fifties.
Zondeki was brought onto bowl in the 19th over and immediately got rid of Marvan Atapattu, who was caught by Andrew Hall. This was his first ball in ODI cricket and he got the big wicket of Atapattu.
In response, South Africa achieved the target in 45 overs with 6 wickets in hand. Neil McKenzie top-scored with 70*.
2. Maheesh Theekshana (Sri Lanka)
Maheesh-Theekshana. (Photo by Isuru Sameera Peiris/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Maheesh Theekshana made his Sri Lanka debut against South Africa in Colombo in 2021. Sri Lanka had batted first and posted 203/9 in 50 overs with Charith Asalanka top-scoring with 47 runs. In response, debutant Theekshana starred with the ball as Proteas crumbled to 125 all out.
Theekshana bowled his first ball in ODI cricket in the 10th over and got rid of Janneman Malan for 18 runs. He then went up picking the wickets of Heinrich Klaasen, Kagiso Rabada, and Keshav Maharaj, to end with figures of 4/37 in 10 overs in his debut ODI.
1. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (India)
Bhuvneshwar-kumar. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar remains the only Indian bowler to take a wicket with his first ball on ODI debut. He achieved this feat in the first ODI between India and Pakistan in Chennai in 2012. Put into bat first, Pakistan reduced India to 102/6 and it was MS Dhoni’s 113*, Suresh Raina’s 43 and Ravi Ashwin’s 31* that took the team to 227/6.
Debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar was given the ball to bowl the first over from the Indian side and he made his debut memorable. He bowled a brilliant in-swinger to Mohammad Hafeez, who let the ball go as it pitched outside off-stump. Hafeez thought the ball would hold its line and go to the keeper, but the ball moved back sharply after pitching and uprooted his off-stump.
Kumar also got rid of Azhar Ali for 9 runs, picking 2/27 in 9 overs with a maiden on his debut.