Riyan Parag had an excellent outing with the ball on his ODI debut during the third match of the series against Sri Lanka in Colombo today (August 7), taking 3-54 in nine overs.
After the first game ended in a tie and the second in a loss, India made a couple of changes to their XI for the third and final ODI of the series. Riyan Parag was handed a debut in place of Arshdeep Singh, while Rishabh Pant made a comeback in place of KL Rahul.
Having impressed with the ball in the T20Is prior to the ODI series, Riyan was backed to fill the fourth spinner's role in the team on a slow and turning surface, and e lived up to expectations.
Also Read: Riyan Parag is the first of many all-rounders India may try out in near future
Called on to bowl in the 25th over of the innings, Riyan ended up sending down nine overs for three wickets and 54 runs. He dismissed Avishka Fernando, Charith Asalanka, and Dunith Wellalage, trapping the first two plumb in front and cleaning up the stumps of Wellalage.
This was the seventh three-wicket haul or better on men's ODI debut by an Indian spinner, and the 19th by an Indian bowler on debut, pacers and spinners combined. Overall, these were the 16th-best figures by an Indian bowler on ODI debut.
Against Sri Lanka, Riyan's performance was the joint third-best by a spinner on ODI debut. Leg spinner Rahul Chahar had also registered figures of 3-54 against them on his ODI debut three years back, at the same venue.
All charged up 🦁#ViratKohli #RiyanParag #India #SLvsIND #Cricket #ODIs pic.twitter.com/qN63c4Zmct
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) August 7, 2024
Interestingly, only one Indian bowler has taken more than three wickets on ODI debut; Prasidh Krishna in 2021, when he took 4-54 against England in Pune.
Best figures on men's ODI debut by Indian bowlers
Prasidh Krishna: 8.1-1-54-6, vs England, Pune, 2021
Noel David: 8-0-21-3, vs West Indies, Port of Spain, 1997
Varun Aaron: 6.1-1-24-3, vs England, Mumbai, 2011
Subroto Bannerjee: 10-2-30-3, vs West Indies, Perth, 1991
Hardik Pandya: 7-0-31-3, vs New Zealand, Dharamshala, 2016
Dilip Doshi: 10-1-32-3, vs Australia, Melbourne, 1980
Tinu Yohannan: 10-1-33-3, vs West Indies, Bridgetown, 2002
Bhupinder Singh: 10-1-34-3, vs UAE, Sharjah, 1994
BS Chandrasekhar: 7-0-36-3, vs New Zealand, Auckland, 1976
Piyush Chawla: 10-0-37-3, vs Bangladesh, Mirpur, 2007
Rahul Sharma: 10-0-43-3, vs West Indies, Indore, 2011
Harvinder Singh: 8.2-0-44-3, vs Pakistan, Toronto, 1997
Atul Wassan: 10-0-45-3, vs New Zealand, Dunedin, 1990
Zaheer Khan: 10-0-48-3, vs Kenya, Nairobi, 2000
Khaleel Ahmed: 10-0-48-3, vs Hong Kong, Dubai, 2018
Rahul Chahar: 10-0-54-3, vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, 2021
Riyan Parag: 9-0-54-3, vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, 2021
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