The 24-year-old Arshdeep was wicketless before this match despite featuring in three ODIs. Not only he took his maiden ODI wicket today but went on to register a first fifer by an Indian pacer against South Africa.
Arshdeep returned with excellent figures of 5 for 37 while Avesh Khan also chipped in with 4 wickets for 27 runs to help India bowl out the hosts for a meagre 116 in 27.3 overs in Johannesburg.
He joined an exclusive group as the fourth bowler to secure a 5-wicket haul against South Africa in ODIs. Additionally, he became the second bowler, following Yuzvendra Chahal, to achieve this feat in ODIs for India on South African soil.
The first one was spinner Sunil Joshi (5/6), who took a fifer against Proteas back in 1999. Then spinners Chahal (5/22) (2018 in Centurion) and Ravindra Jadeja (5/33) (2023 in Kolkata) took two more five-wicket hauls.
After taking his maiden five-wicket haul, Arshdeep expressed his happiness over the feat saying that he felt the pressure, especially considering he had yet to secure a wicket in ODIs before this performance.
“I was under a bit of pressure because I never took any wicket in ODIs before. Happy to get a fifth,” Arshdeep told the official broadcasters in the mid innings break.
