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Former India leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani holds the record for one of the best match figures on Test debut, with an outstanding 16/136 against West Indies in Chennai in 1988.
Narendra Hirwani’s 16-wicket haul on Test debut stays a world record. (Image: ICC/X, formerly Twitter)
On This Day In 1988 Cricket: Indian cricket’s wealthy history is glittered with among the world’s finest ever spinners, including Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandreshekhar, Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja. But, do , none of them holds the feat that former leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani still does.
Nearly 4 a long time since his sensational beginnings, Hirwani keeps the feat of recording the best ever match figures on debut in Test match cricket.
On January 15, 1988, 19-year-old Hirwani closed out his maiden Test outing for India against the West Indies with an astonishing match haul of 16 wickets. A classic leg-spinner, who gave the ball great revs within the air and got it to dip and switch prodigiously, Hirwani proved to be a nightmare for the Calypso Kings.
He turned the Test match in Chennai right into a one-sided affair, helping India clinch a memorable victory to finish the four-match series with a decent 1-1 draw against a powerful visiting outfit.
Hirwani emerged as India’s trump card after Kapil Dev’s counterattacking 109 pushed the hosts to an imposing first-innings rating of 382 on a dry and turning pitch on the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Introduced into the attack after skipper Ravi Shastri and the legendary Kapil dismissed West Indies’ dangerous opening pair of Desmond Haynes and Phil Simmons, Hirwani then ran through the opposition. He sent back the well-set duo of Richie Richardson (36) and the nice Vivian Richards (68) on his solution to ultimately bagging figures of 8 for 61 in only 18.3 overs.
Hirwani’s wonderful exhibition of leg-spin helped India skittle out the West Indies for 184, taking an enormous lead of 198 runs.
Within the third innings, India declared 217/8 and once more handed the ball to their first-innings hero in an effort to secure a morale-boosting win versus the all-conquering West Indies side.
Hirwani continued from where he left off and bowled with great control and skill to provide one more eight-wicket haul, this time taking 8 for 75 in 15.2 overs. The spirited teenager’s promising display bundled the opposition out for just 160, giving the Indians a famed victory by a margin of 255 runs.
Sadly, though, Hirwani couldn’t quite replicate the magic of his debut in the rest of his profession. He played only one other 16 Tests for India and finished with an overall tally of 66 wickets at a median of 30.14.
January 15, 2026, 07:40 IST
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