Bumrah proving bigger threat than Hadlee, Holding in Aus

In Top headlines
December 25, 2024
Bumrah proving bigger threat than Hadlee, Holding in Aus


Jasprit Bumrah celebrates after dismissing Travis Head (Agency Photo)

In India’s last two Test tours of Australia, the factor that has remained constant is the threat posed by premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, which coincides with the fact that India finished those tours with historic series wins. And on his third trip Down Under, Bumrah continues to torment the Aussies and could well again be the decisive figure in the end result.
With 21 wickets in three Tests of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) at a staggering average of 10.90, Bumrah has crossed the tally of 50 Test wickets in Australia. Not only that, the 31-year-old Indian pacer has the best strike rate among the bowlers in that list.

Rohit Sharma: ‘Virat Kohli is a modern day great. He will figure it out’

The list includes legends like Richard Hadlee, Michael Holding, Curtly Ambrose, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and others; but Bumrah’s strike rate of 41.0 is the best.
West Indies legend Ambrose has taken most Test wickets in Australia with his 78 scalps in 14 matches. With his 53 wickets, Bumrah has went past Kapil Dev (51 wickets) among the Indian bowlers.
Take a look at the top-10 list (ordered according to best strike rate):

Bowler For Tests Wickets Average Strike Rate
J Bumrah India 10 53 17.15 41.0
Richard Hadlee NZ 12 77 17.83 43.8
W Bates Eng 15 50 16.42 47.2
Curtly Ambrose WI 14 78 19.79 48.1
Michael Holding WI 14 63 24.22 50.2
S Barnes Eng 13 77 22.42 55.2
Harold Larwood Eng 10 51 26.82 56.4
T Richardson Eng 10 54 30.09 60.7
Ian Botham Eng 18 69 28.44 61.2
Kapil Dev India 11 51 24.58 61.5

In fact, Bumrah is enjoying the best of his three tours of Australia in the current outing. His 21 wickets in 2018-19 came in four Tests, while he has taken the same number of wickets in three Tests of this BGT.
Also, two out of Bumrah’s three five-wicket spells in Australia have come on this tour.

Pat Cummins reveals Australia’s XI for Boxing Day Test

In 2020-21, he took 11 wickets in the three-Test series.
Here’s the break-up of Bumrah’s performance on Australia tours (till 3rd Test of 2024-25 tour):

Series Tests Wickets Average Strike Rate
2018-19 4 21 17.00 44.9
2020-21 3 11 29.66 64.1
2024-25 3 21 10.90 25.1

(Stats: Rajesh Kumar)