Birthday special: James Faulkner – The architect of Australia’s 2015 WC victory

29th March 2015 is an important date in the history of Australian cricket. It was on this historic date that the Australian side, led by Michael Clarke won the fifty-over World Cup for the 5th time. And, the man who was mainly responsible for this triumph that will live on for posterity is James Faulkner.

In the biggest stage in the game, the left-arm seamer scalped 3 wickets, including the important ones of Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott to restrict the Kiwi willow wielders to a total of just 183. In the 9 overs that he bowled, Faulkner gave away 36 runs.

The Aussies chased down the target with 7 wickets and 101 balls to spare, and Faulkner won the Player of the Match award in the final. But then, Faulkner was not just about that one performance in limited-overs cricket. He played 69 ODIs and 24 T20Is and picked up 96 and 36 wickets in ODIs and T20Is respectively.

The talk surrounding Faulkner cannot be completed without delving into the 5/27 that he took against Pakistan during the 2016 T20 World Cup. The left-arm seamer cleaned up the Pakistan batting lineup at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali to allow the Aussies to romp to a 21-run victory. Another magical spell from the left-arm seamer came in the year 2017, at the Brisbane Cricket Ground in ODI cricket. And once again, the opposition that was at the receiving end was Pakistan. Faulkner picked up 4 wickets and gave away just 32 runs to propel the Australian side to a comfortable 92 run victory.

The last time Faulkner was seen in Australian colours was back in October 2017 in an ODI match against India. Since then, he has not got a chance to wear the Australian jersey. However, he will be remembered for the famous spell of his that won his country the 2015 World Cup. As the Australian turns 31 today here is wishing him a very happy birthday.