Five bowlers to produce best bowling figures in Asia Cup history ft Ajantha Mendis

Throughout the history of the Asia Cup, the bowlers have time and again managed to hog the limelight. In an era where the batters seem to be getting way too much in their favor, a handful of bowlers still manage to valiantly stun the batting sides with their exceptional bowling wizardry. Hardly anyone can forget Ajantha Mendis' destructive six-wicket haul in the 2008 Asia Cup final, which brought India to its knees. However, in recent times, it was Mohammed Siraj who produced a ground-breaking bowling performance of 6-21 to bowl out Sri Lanka cheaply for 50 in the 2023 Asia Cup final. 

While Mendis and Siraj have succeeded in leaving their lasting legacy in the Asia Cup, who are the other bowlers who still managed to find a way to thrive in this batter-dominated era of the game? And have they been successful enough to etch their names in the record books? In this article, we bring you the top five bowlers to have recorded the best-ever bowling figures in the history of the Asia Cup. 

See also: Five batters with most runs in Asia Cup history (ODI & T20I combined)

Ajantha Mendis (6-13 vs India in Asia Cup, 2008)

Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis holds the record for producing the best bowling figures in the history of the Asia Cup. His magical figures of 6-13 spun a vicious web around the Indian batters in the 2008 Asia Cup final. Leading into the Asia Cup final, India emerged as the strong favorites. At a time when a very few experts anticipated an unlikely victory for Sri Lanka, Mendis did the unthinkable. Sehwag got India off to a rapid start. Sri Lanka needed something out of the ordinary to stem the flow of runs. But as soon as the ball was tossed to Mendis, things immediately took a turn for the worse for India. Mendis deceived the in-form Indian batters with his uncanny variations in pace and flight. In addition, the mystery spinner wisely altered his line and length to further add to India's woes. Right after dismissing Sehwag in his first over, Mendis was on a roll. Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, and RP Singh were among the other five victims he accounted for. In the end, Sri Lanka achieved an incredible victory over India. On the back of Mendis's destructive 6-13, Sri Lanka went on to thrash India by an unbelievable margin of 100 runs.

Mohammed Siraj (6-21 vs Sri Lanka in Asia Cup, 2023)

In the 2023 Asia Cup Final, all hell broke loose on Sri Lanka as Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj ran riot with the ball. The Lankan side barely got a chance to stage a fightback as Siraj went on to script his career-best ODI figures of 6-21 to floor Sri Lanka cheaply for 50. In overcast conditions, Siraj utilized the new ball to good effect, leading to the undoing of six frontline Sri Lankan batters. What also played to his advantage was the brisk pace he was able to generate to trouble the Lankan batters. Contrary to what people had expected earlier, the Asia Cup final ended in a very one-sided affair, thanks to Siraj's hostile spell of bowling. He got the ball rolling by having Nissanka fend at an away swinging delivery. A couple of balls later, Samarawickrama followed suit after getting struck in front of the stumps. Siraj's onslaught continued further as Asalanka and Dhananjay fell inside the very same over. By the end of the fourth over, Sri Lanka were brought down on their knees, losing half the side for just 12 runs on the board. In his 7-over spell, Siraj only conceded two boundaries and accounted for six dismissals while giving away just 21 runs. This was also the fourth-best bowling performance recorded by an Indian bowler in the ODI format. 

Aaqib Javed (5-19 vs India in Asia Cup, 1995)

Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed unleashed an unprecedented wave of terror during the third match of the 1995 Pepsi Asia Cup against India. After posting a competitive target on the board, Javed provided the Men in Green an ideal start. The two India openers, Manoj Prabhakar and the dangerous Sachin Tendulkar, were dismissed cheaply inside the first three overs of the run chase. By then, India's momentum was severely disrupted. Despite a valiant stand between Navjot Siddhu and Mohammed Azharuddin, Javed was able to dismiss the latter and throw the game wide open for Pakistan again. Vinod Kambli and Javagal Srinath were his next two victims as India were dismissed for 169, leaving them well short of their required target of 267. Javed starred with the ball with exemplary figures of 5-19 and was awarded for his heroic deed with a POTM award. 

Arshad Ayub (5-21 vs Pakistan in Asia Cup, 1988)

In an epic low-scoring thriller, Arshad Ayub helped India prevail in what turned out to be a tense contest with Pakistan. The 3rd fixture of the Wills Asia Cup 1988 was impacted by weather, resulting in a shortened 45-over game per side. Ayub bowled a marathon nine overs, picking up five wickets while conceding only 21 runs. He joined hands with Maninder Singh and bowled effectively in tandem to obliterate Pakistan's top order. As a result, the Pakistan innings never got off the ground and were floored for a meager 142. At a time when Pakistan were crusing along nicely at 62-0, Ayub, out of nowhere, produced a magical spell to trigger a catastrophic batting collapse. He was miserly with the ball and did not concede a single extra in his nine-over spell. Although Abdul Qadir kept Pakistan in the game, India eventually went on to get over the line by four wickets. This was Ayub's first and only five-wicket haul in his ODI career. Sadly, a couple of years later, his international career came to a premature end. Ayub's 5-21 will go down as one of the most underrated spells in the history of the Asia Cup. 

Kuldeep Yadav (5-25 vs Pakistan in Asia Cup, 2023)

During the ninth fixture of the Asia Cup 2023, Kuldeep Yadav etched his name in the record books by becoming the fifth Indian bowler to claim an ODI five-wicket haul against Pakistan. By doing so, he joined the elite list featuring legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Venkatesh Prasad, and Arshad Ayub. In this fixture, Pakistan were utterly humiliated by the Men in Blue, first with the ball and later with the bat. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli added to Pakistan's misery by mounting a colossal score of 356-2. Just when it seemed like the worst had passed, another humiliation was already looming for Pakistan in the second innings. Kuldeep ran through the fragile batting lineup like a hot knife through butter. In his eight-over spell, Kuldeep returned figures of 5-25 and never allowed Pakistan to gain any foothold in this match. His five primary scalps included dismissals of Fakhar Zaman, Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, and Faheem Ashraf. As a consequence, Pakistan went down without a fight and were bowled out for just 128, thus handing India their biggest ODI victory against the Men in Green.