Jasprit Bumrah has been the go-to man for Rohit Sharma in the Test series against Australia. The man Jasprit Bumrah has done all the hard work in the series and picked up a staggering 30 wickets in four Test matches so far. Yet, India are 1-2 down in the series courtesy of some extremely poor batting throughout.
Jasprit Bumrah, the modern-day great, has sent down a stunning 141.2 overs so far in the series, the most among all the bowlers with Pat Cummins being the next at 136.4 overs. Mitchell Starc follows him closely with 131.2 overs but there were signs of him breaking down on the final day of the Melbourne Test.
Jasprit Bumrah the Talisman bowler for Team India in BGT 2024-25
‘National asset’ Jasprit Bumrah created history on Sunday, December 29, by becoming the first bowler in the history of Test cricket to take more than 200 wickets with an average of less than 20. Jasprit Bumrah, who is playing his 44th Test match for India these days against Australia in Melbourne, has 202 wickets to his name at an average of 19.38.
In the list of bowlers with more than 200 wickets in Test cricket, Jasprit Bumrah takes the No. 1 position, and he is followed by the West Indies trio of Malcolm Marshall (376 wickets, 20.94 avg), Joel Garner (259 wickets, 20.97 avg), and Curtly Ambrose (405 wickets, 20.99 avg).
Jasprit Bumrah completed his 200th dismissal in Test cricket by removing Travis Head for 1 run from two balls. The left-handed batter was caught by Nitish Kumar Reddy. In the same over, four balls later, Jasprit Bumrah got the better of Mitchell Marsh as well. Marsh failed to open his account and was caught behind by Rishabh Pant.
Jasprit Bumrah, who is the leading wicket-taker in international cricket this year, picked up his fourth wicket of the second innings and 29th overall in the series by breaching Alex Carey’s defence on the last ball of the 36th over of Australia’s second inning. The Aussie wicketkeeper-batter could only manage to score 2 runs from 7 balls.
By dismissing Head for the second time in the ongoing Boxing Day Test at MCG, Jasprit Bumrah also broke Kapil Dev’s record of being the fastest Indian pacer to take 200 Test wickets. Kapil’s 200th Test wicket came in the 50th match, whereas Bumrah has achieved the feat in his 44th match only. He is the second fastest Indian to dismiss 200 batters in Tests. Ravichandran Ashwin tops the list with 37 matches.
Are India breaking Jasprit Bumrah as well then. He bowled 53.2 overs in the Boxing Day Test, the most ever he has bowled in a Test match. With the Champions Trophy and five-match Test series against England coming up, are India over-bowling their best bowler. Is his workload a concern for India. Skipper Rohit Sharma admits there is a concern but also revealed that they have been managing him on the field as well.
Rohit Sharma honest confession on Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management in BGT 2024-25
Team India captain Rohit Sharma has admitted that the visitors run the risk of over-bowling Jasprit Bumrah in the ongoing Test series against Australia. He, however, asserted that he has been constantly chatting to the lead pacer in his endeavor to ensure that the fast bowler’s workload is managed properly.
Jasprit Bumrah has been the standout performer for India with the ball in BGT 2024-25. In four Tests, he has claimed 30 wickets at an exceptional average of 12.83, with three five-fers and two four-wicket hauls. The right-arm pacer has sent down over 140 overs across four Tests.
At a press conference following India’s 184-run loss in Melbourne on Monday, December 30, Rohit admitted being mindful of the fact that he could end up over-bowling Bumrah. At the same time, he added that the team also needs to maximize his brilliant bowling form. The Indian captain said (as quoted by ANI):
“To be honest, he has bowled a lot of overs. There is no doubt about it. But again, every Test match we play, we keep that in mind. You know, the workloads of all the bowlers in fact. But again, if somebody is in such a great form, you want to try and maximize that form how much ever you can. And that is what we’ve been trying to do with Bumrah.
“But there comes a time where you need to step back a little bit and give him that little bit of extra breather as well. So, we’ve been very careful. I’ve been very careful. I talk to him about how he feels and stuff like that. So, yeah. Those things should be managed carefully. And I’m trying to do that on the field,” Rohit added.
Even as India succumbed to pressure in the Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne, Jasprit Bumrah was outstanding yet again. He claimed 4-99 in the first innings and 5-57 in the second.
While Bumrah has been brilliant from the start of the Test series, the same cannot be said about the other pacers in the Indian team. Mohammed Siraj has managed 16 wickets but has been inconsistent, which reflects in his average of 31.44. As for Akash Deep, he has only five wickets in two Tests at an average of 54. Rohit, though, backed the bowlers and said:
“Look, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj are the frontline seamers…Siraj, especially, is bowling his heart out. I don’t think there’s anything else that he can do. Obviously, there are technical aspects of his game that he’s looking into. But other than that, in terms of his effort, his attitude, bowling those long spells, he’s always up there. It’s just that the wicket column doesn’t show how well he’s bowled.”
India tried out Harshit Rana in the first couple of Tests, but he only managed four wickets at an average of over 50. Nitish Kumar Reddy has played all four Tests but has only picked up three scalps.
Jasprit Bumrah has a total of 74 wickets to his name in 14 matches of WTC 2023-25. He broke Ashwin’s record of taking the most wickets in a single edition of the WTC for India. Ashwin dismissed 71 batters in 14 matches of the 2019-21 edition of WTC. Only Nathan Lyon on Australia has picked up more wickets than Jasprit Bumrah in one edition of the WTC now. The legendary spinner accounted for the dismissal of 88 batters in 20 matches for Australia in the 2021-23 edition of WTC.