It’s not just Sachin’s willow that has enthralled Cricket fans the world over, he has also made telling contributions with the ball. While not a regular bowler, Tendulkar can bowl medium-pace, leg spin and off-spin with equal ease. He often bowls when two batsmen have been batting together for a long period, and can often be a useful partnership breaker. Though his Test bowling average is around 48 and his ODI bowling average above 40, he is considered as the man with the Golden arm who breaks partnerships.
On more than one occasion, he has had a strong influence on an Indian victory with his bowling. Notable among his bowling exploits are:
1. 5-wicket haul against Australia at Kochi in the 1997-98 Series. Set 269 runs to win, Australia were cruising comfortably at 203/3 in the 31st over. Sachin turned the match for India taking wickets of Michael Bevan, Steve Waugh, Darren Lehmann, Tom Moody and Damien Martyn for just 32 runs in 10 overs.
2. Final over against South Africa in 1993, Hero-cup semifinals: South Africa needed 6 runs to win the match in the final over. Sachin, bowling 3 dot balls in that over, conceded just 3 runs to help India win the match and reach the Finals of the tournament.
3. Performance of 4/34 in 10 overs against West Indies in Sharjah where the Windies were bowled out for 145.
4. He single handedly won the ICC 1998 quarterfinal at Dhaka to pave way for India's entry into the Semifinals, when he took 4 Australian wickets after scoring 141 runs in just 128 balls.
5. Tendulkar took three wickets on the final day of the famous Kolkata Test against Australia in 2001, which India won after following on, 274 runs behind on the first innings. Tendulkar took the key wickets of Matthew Hayden — who made a hundred in the previous Test at Mumbai and a double century in the next — and Adam Gilchrist, another centurion at Mumbai.
6. The googly that got Moin Khan's wicket during the first test match in Multan is still considered to be most memorable delivery bowled by Sachin in test matches.
7. Sachin Tendulkar showed his bowling prowess yet again at Kochi, taking his second five-for here to lead India to a convincing 87-run win the first one-day international of the six-match series. Requiring 282 to win, Pakistan were bundled out for 194, with Tendulkar taking 5 for 50. He clean bowled Inzamam ul-Haq for 37 then had Abdul Razzaq caught at short leg by Sehwag for 5. Another big wicket, that of Shahid Afridi, fell in Sachin's lap when the latter was caught in the deep by Zaheer Khan for 8. Likewise, M Hafeez and Mohammed Sami also fell prey to his wiles, with the former scoring 42 and the latter 2.
