Left-handed bowler who took wicket on the 1st ball of ODI match most number of times, one Indian player in top-3

New Delhi.In all three formats of cricket, the responsibility of the bowlers is to put pressure on the opposition team by taking wickets in the beginning. Talking about ODIs, many bowlers have accomplished the feat of taking a wicket on the very first ball of the match in this format. There are some bowlers who have repeated this feat more than once in this format. The record of taking the most number of wickets on the first ball of the match in ODIs is in the name of Sri Lankan fast bowler Chaminda Vaas, who did this 5 times in 322 matches. Let us tell you, the best bowling analysis of ODI (8/19) is recorded in the name of left-handed Vaas. Vaas took 355 wickets in 111 Tests, 400 in 333 ODIs and 6 wickets in 6 T20Is. However, during his/her era, Vaas’ performance was not given as much importance due to the dazzling performance of charismatic spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. I did not get as much appreciation as I should have.

Left-arm fast bowlers dominate the list of bowlers who have taken wickets on the first ball the most number of times in ODIs. While Wasim is at the top, the second position is also occupied by a left-handed bowler. India’s Zaheer Khan and Pakistan’s Wasim Akram (4 times each) are jointly at the second position. 5 bowlers are at the third position in this list. They have taken wickets on the first ball three times each. Out of these five bowlers, two are left-handed.

Let’s take a look at the performance of these bowlers who have taken wickets on the first ball of the match the most number of times in ODIs.

Vaas has taken wickets on the first ball twice against India
Chaminda Vaas, who made his/her ODI debut against India in February 1994, has taken a wicket on the first ball of the match five times. he/she has done this feat twice against Team India. The interesting thing is that Vaas took training in fast bowling at MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai under the guidance of great fast bowler Dennis Lillee. Vaas first took a wicket on the first ball of ODI in Mumbai on 17 May 1997, when Sourav Ganguly became his/her victim. After this, he/she repeated this feat against New Zealand in Sharjah on 17 April (victim Christopher Nevin), against India in Colombo on 1 August 2001 (victim Virender Sehwag), against Zimbabwe in Colombo on 8 December 2001 (victim Dion Ibrahim) and for the fifth i.e. last time on 14 February 2003 against Bangladesh in City Oval (victim Hannan Sarkar). After dismissing Hannan on the first ball of the match against Bangladesh, Vaas dismissed Mohammad on the next two balls. he/she dismissed Ashraful and Ahsanul Haque and completed a hat-trick.

Zaheer took a wicket on the first ball twice against Sri Lanka

Zaheer Khan, popularly known as ‘Z’, was the frontline bowler of Team India for many years. Left-arm fast bowler Zaheer first dismissed Matthew Sinclair on the first ball of the match against New Zealand in Colombo on 20 July 2001. After this, he/she achieved the feat of taking a wicket on the very first ball of ODI by dismissing Jayasuriya against Sri Lanka in Colombo on 30 September 2002, Michael Clarke against Australia in Mumbai on 17 October 2007 and last time Upul Tharanga against Sri Lanka in Delhi on 27 December 2012. In his/her international career that lasted from 2000 to 2014, Zaheer played 92 Tests, 200 ODIs and 17 T20Is.

Akram took wicket on the first ball twice in 2002
Wasim Akram, considered the world’s best left-arm bowler, played 104 Tests and 356 ODIs between 1984 and 2003. Like Zaheer, he/she also achieved the feat of taking a wicket on the first ball of an ODI match four times. Akram took a wicket on the first ball of the match against Zimbabwe in Karachi for the first time on 24 December 1993. he/she dismissed Andy Flower. After this, he/she took wickets on 18 February 2001 against New Zealand in Auckland (victim Adam Parore), on 15 June 2002 against Australia in Melbourne (victim Adam Gilchrist) and for the fourth and last time on 18 August 2002 against South Africa, he/she dismissed Herschelle Gibbs on the first ball of the match.

5 bowlers have taken wickets on the first ball of the match 3 times
Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Kulasekara, Australia’s Mitchell Starc and Craig McDermott, New Zealand’s Trent Boult and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock have taken wickets on the first ball of the match thrice each. Out of these bowlers, Starc is still active in international cricket. Australia’s strong-built fast bowler Craig McDermott played 71 Tests and 138 ODIs between 1984 and 1996. he/she first dismissed John Bracewell on the first ball of the match against New Zealand at Adelaide Oval on 27 January 1986 in ODIs. After this, he/she ‘caught’ John Wright on the first ball against New Zealand in Auckland on 22 February 1992 and then Roshan Mahanama on the first ball against Sri Lanka in Colombo on 5 September 1992. Australia has played 89 Tests, 121 ODIs and 65 T20Is so far. Only Mitchell Starc is included in this special club. Lefty Starc first took the wicket of Ian Bell on the first ball of the match against England at Sydney ground on 16 January 2015. Later on 29 February 2020 against South Africa in Pearl he/she took the wicket of J. Malan and on 16 September 2020 at Old Trafford he/she took the wicket of England’s Jason Roy on the first ball of the match.

Similarly, Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Kulasekara played 21 Tests, 184 ODIs and 58 T20Is between 2003 and 2017. Kulasekara took a wicket on the first ball of the match twice against Pakistan and once against New Zealand. he/she dismissed Pakistan’s Nasir Jamshed on the first ball on 31 July 2009 in Dambulla and Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal on 9 August 2009 in Colombo. On 23 January 2015 in Dunedin, he/she dismissed Martin Guptill on the first ball of the match against New Zealand.

From 1995 to 2008, Shaun Pollock played 108 Tests, 303 ODIs and 12 T20Is for South Africa. On 24 January 2001, Pollock took the wicket of West Indies’ Phil Wallace on the first ball of the match against West Indies in East London. On 13 January 2002, he/she dismissed Gilchrist on the first ball in the ODI in Melbourne and on 15 January 2006 in Brisbane. New Zealand’s Trent Boult has retired from international cricket only after the T20 World Cup 2024 after playing 78 Tests, 114 ODIs and 61 T20Is. This left-arm bowler dismissed England’s Jason Roy at Edgbaston on 9 June 2015, England’s Jonny Bairstow at Kennington Oval on 13 September 2023 and exactly a month later, on 13 October 2023, Bangladesh’s Liton Das in the World Cup match in Bengaluru on the first ball of the match.