Bowlers with two 5-wicket hauls in a Duleep Trophy match

When Ravindra Jadeja got rid of Nathu Singh in the finals of the Duleep Trophy 2016, not only did he bag a 5-wicket haul but also etched his name in the history books. He finished with figures of 5/76 for the India Red as India Blue bundled out for 161 to lose by a gigantic margin of 355 runs.

With the match-winning five-for, Jadeja completed his 2^nd five wicket of the match. Earlier in the match, he had scalped 5/95 in the India Red first innings. He became only the 15^th player in the history of Duleep Trophy to have registered two 5-wicket hauls in a Duleep Trophy encounter. More importantly, the timing to achieve the unique distinction was in the all-important finals.

The 2016 edition of the Duleep Trophy was the first edition to be played in the format similar to that in the Challenger Series. Only 3 teams participated in the event – India Red, India Blue and India Green. Prior to this edition, the Duleep Trophy was traditionally a zonal tournament with all 5 zones (North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone and Central Zone) of the country competing for the coveted trophy.

The illustrious history of Duleep Trophy dates back to 1961-62 domestic season when the tournament was first played. West Zone emerged victorious in the maiden series. The first instance when a player bagged two 5-wicket hauls in the same match was Rajinder Goel achieving the feat for the North Zone in 1963. Goel is one of the most successful bowlers to have ever played domestic cricket in India with 750 wickets to his name in First Class career.

Legendary spinner E Prasanna was the next man to do so in 1965. Playing for the South Zone, he bagged 6/19 and 5/61 against Central Zone. The list also features another Indian international, Madan Lal, who bagged 6/59 and 5/63 against the West Zone for the North Zone in 1982. Another legend of Indian cricket, Narendra Hirwani, who took the cricket world by surprise on his international debut, also features in the elite list.

His efforts of 5/71 and 7/129 for the Plate B team against the Plate A team in 2003 was a commendable performance too. The 2002-03 season was the only season when the zonal teams wer replaced by 5 new teams – Elite A, Elite B, Elite C, Plate A and Plate B. Since the new teams lacked the sense of identity, the old format was restored in the very next season.

Pacer VRV Singh, who had taken the cricket world in India by storm with his fiery pace after his domestic debut, also achieved the feat in 2008. Playing for the North Zone, he bagged 5/59 and 5/91 against the West Zone in his spells of 20 and 18 overs respectively.

It is also fascinating to see some of the lost names of Indian domestic cricket also feature in the list. Although they could not make it big in their careers as the years progressed, they managed to have their days during their career. Efforts of PV Salgaonkar in 1972, Jai P Yadav in 2005, PS Vaidya in 1995, Avinash Kumar in 1991 and many more must not go unnoticed.

The most recent player to achieve the feat before Ravindra Jadeja was KR Makwana. The West Zone player had toiled hard for his brilliant spells of 5/140 and 5/80 against North Zone at Chennai recently in the 2012 edition of the Duleep Trophy.

Here is the list of all the 15 bowlers with two 5-wicket hauls in a Duleep Trophy match: