Ricky Ponting, a Hall of Famer in the International Cricket Council (ICC), lauded Jasprit Bumrah‘s performance. He considered it not just the finest bowling by a visiting bowler in Australia, but potentially the best fast bowling exhibition ever.
In his third Test series in Australia, Jasprit Bumrah delivered an exceptional bowling performance, significantly impacting the closely fought Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The 31-year-old topped the wicket-taking charts in the five-match series, capturing an impressive 32 wickets.
During this remarkable performance, Bumrah surpassed former Indian captain Kapil Dev’s record for most Test wickets by an Indian bowler in Australia. Bumrah’s 64 wickets at an average of 17.15 outshone Kapil Dev’s 51 wickets at an average of 24.58.
“No doubt, it’s probably the best series of fast bowling I’ve ever seen. Yes, they had good conditions, the fast bowlers, for most of this series. But when you watched him (Bumrah) bowl compared to anyone else in the series, he made batting look so much harder. There’s a lot of quality batting in that Australian top-order as well but he made all of them at different times look silly.”
Bumrah had captained India to victory in Perth earlier in the series. However, he couldn’t bowl on the final day in Sydney due to back spasms experienced the previous day.
Expressing his disappointment at missing the opportunity to bowl in the second innings, Bumrah stated his frustration.
“Little frustrating but sometimes you have to respect your body, you can’t fight your body.”
He further expressed his disappointment at missing out on what he considered the most challenging pitch of the series.
“Disappointing, probably missed out on the spiciest wicket of the series. I felt a bit of discomfort during my second spell in the first innings.”
In the Sydney Test, India opted to bat first after winning the toss.
India’s start was shaky as the top order struggled, including Virat Kohli (17), who continued to face difficulties against deliveries outside the off stump.
Rishabh Pant (40), Ravindra Jadeja (26), and captain Jasprit Bumrah (22) contributed to India’s total of 185 all out.
Scott Boland (4/31) led the Australian bowling attack, proving troublesome for the Indian batsmen, alongside Mitchell Starc (3/49) and Pat Cummins (2/37).
Australia also lost wickets consistently in their first innings, even after Jasprit Bumrah (2/33) left the field due to an injury concern.
Under stand-in captain Virat Kohli, India maintained their dominance, bowling Australia out for 181, gaining a four-run lead.
Debutant Beau Webster (57) impressed with the bat, while Steve Smith (33) displayed some attacking strokes.
Prasidh Krishna (3/42) and Mohammed Siraj (3/51) were India’s most successful bowlers.
Starting their second innings with a four-run advantage, India had a promising start with Yashasvi Jaiswal (22) and KL Rahul (13) building a 45-run partnership.
However, Scott Boland (6/45) once again troubled the Indian batsmen. Rishabh Pant’s counter-attacking 61 runs was not enough to prevent India from being bowled out for 157, setting Australia a target of 162 runs to win.
Bumrah was unable to bowl in the final innings. Australia encountered some difficulty during their chase of 162, reaching 58/3 at one stage.
Usman Khawaja (41), Travis Head (34 not out), and Beau Webster (39 not out) steered Australia to a six-wicket victory, despite Prasidh Krishna’s efforts (3/65).
Scott Boland was named Player of the Match for his ten-wicket haul, while Jasprit Bumrah received the Player of the Series award for his 32 wickets.
