Manoj Prabhakar’s top 3 performances in ODI Cricket 

The importance of seam bowling all-rounders was seen in the cricketing world as a need. Even today we see teams depend on such all-rounders to give some depth in their squads. The Indian team did have heroes in this department in the form of Kapil Dev and Mohinder Amarnath who could score some runs and take wickets in the middle. Another prodigy the Indian team invested in the 90s was Manoj Prabhakar. He was said to be the perfect replacement for the great all-rounders in the Indian team.

Prabhakar has had a fairly good career in international cricket with over 7000 runs and 253 wickets, he has mostly shone in the one-day format where he has scored 3083 runs and taken 157 wickets in his 130 matches. These might still be great numbers, but with his talent, it was sure that Prabhakar was destined to be one of the greats of cricket, where he was not only a great medium pacer, but a great batter capable of scoring some big runs when his side needed. Looking at these performances it is something to think about what could have been the career of this cricketer if things had panned out differently at the end.

So, here are the top 3 performances of Manoj Prabhakar in ODI cricket:

3. 5/33 vs Newzealand in 1995

This was in no way a struggling New Zealand team at all and there was a special performance needed by a player to beat this side. This is where Manoj Prabhakar came to the party with a magnificent bowling spell of 5 for 33 in his 10 overs to start to trigger a massive collapse in the 2nd ODI in Amritsar. Prabhakar bowled a brilliant spell with the new ball and tricked the batters with his variations with the old. His spell also included the big wickets of Martin Crowe and Mark Greatbach. This made sure the Kiwis were bowled out for 145 and the India batters chased it down with 6 wickets in hand.

2. 5/35 and 39 runs vs Sri Lanka in 1994

This match showed the real ability of Prabhakar not only as a medium pacer but as a batter as well. Prabhakar once again emerged as the strike bowler for the Indian team in the first innings with another great five-wicket haul with figures of 5 for 35 in 10 overs. Prabhakar once again took big scalps of great players in Roshan Mahanama, Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga. This was not all since he also impressed with the bat managing to put up a great opening stand with Navjot Singh Sidhu scoring a 39 from 68 deliveries. This performance in the second ODI was another match-winning performance which got him another player of the match and sealed the series for his side.

1. 91 runs and 2/41 vs Zimbabwe in 1993

This match was another true all-round performance by Manoj Prabhakar in ODI’s in one of the most intense tied games we have ever seen. After losing an early wicket, it was up to Prabhakar to take responsibility in the middle along with upcoming batter Vinod Kambli. Prabhakar scored a magnificent 91 runs from 126 deliveries which included 4 fours to make sure he set a platform for a decent total on the board. Prabhakar came back in the second innings with another brilliant opening spell where he took a couple of wickets for 41 runs in his full quota of 10 overs. This game might not have had a winning result, but he still showed us his game-changing skills as an all-rounder.