India’s fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah created history by taking his 30th wicket of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. This happened when he dismissed Nathan Lyon in the opening over of the final day of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne. No visiting bowler had achieved this feat on Australian soil in over 30 years.
Bumrah is only the second Indian, after legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi, to take 30 or more wickets in a single Test series in Australia. He is also the first visiting bowler to do so since West Indies great Curtly Ambrose, who took 33 wickets during the 1992-93 tour. Bedi had taken 31 wickets in five Tests during India’s 1967-68 tour of Australia.
Other bowlers who have taken 30 or more wickets in a Test series in Australia in the last 70 years include England’s John Snow (31 wickets in 1970-71) and New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (33 wickets in 1985-86). However, Bumrah’s strike rate of 28.2 is the best among them all. His average of 12.83 in this series is second only to Hadlee’s 12.15 for bowlers with 20-plus wickets in any series in Australia.
Bumrah also claimed his third five-wicket haul of the series, making him the fourth Indian bowler and the first Indian pacer to achieve this in a Test series in Australia. He joins spinners Bishan Singh Bedi, BS Chandrasekhar, and Anil Kumble in this elite list.
In the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Bumrah now holds the record for the most wickets in a single edition of the series played in Australia, surpassing Ben Hilfenhaus’s 27 wickets in the 2011-12 series. If Bumrah takes three more wickets, he will break Harbhajan Singh’s record of 32 wickets, which was set in the 2001 series in India.
Australia, bowled out for 234 in their second innings, set India a challenging target of 340 runs to win on the final day. With the five-Test series currently tied 1-1, the last match will be played in Sydney.
