- By Namrata Vijay
- Sun, 05 Jan 2025 12:07 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND vs AUS 5th Test: Saying that India's star pacer Jasprit Bumrah was the best player in the five-match Test series in the five-match Test series is a huge understatement. He had bowled his heart out and at some point, it looked like it was just him who was playing against Australia in some matches this series. But his stint had an anti-climatic end as the Men in Blue lost this series to the hosts by 3-1.
Bumrah had a dream run in this series in Australia as he had created lots of records. He also surpassed Kapil Dev's record of taking the most wickets as an Indian bowler Down Under and then broke Bishan Singh Bedi's record of taking the most wickets for the Men in Blue in a series. During the third Test match at the Gabba in Brisbane, he achieved a double milestone and his dream run began by winning the series opener in Perth.
The Perth ecstasy
The visitors entered the series not on a high note as they had suffered a humiliating home Test series loss to New Zealand. They then received a huge blow as India's regular skipper Rohit Sharma was on paternity leave and Bumrah became the stand-in skipper. Although they were skittled out for just 150 runs during the first innings, he led the team from the front and dismantled Australia's batting lineup.
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Bumrah registered figures of 5/40 during the first innings and helped the team skittle the hosts out for just 104 runs. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and star batter Virat Kohli scored centuries and helped India post a mammoth target of 534 runs as Bumrah took three more wickets and took the team across the line. Besides his bowling prowess, he was lauded for his leadership skills both by the fans and the critics and was being considered as Rohit's replacement.
Bumrah vs Australia
After winning the series opener, Rohit Sharma became the skipper once again but Jasprit Bumrah still was the star bowler. Australia won the second Test match in Adelaide but Bumrah starred with the ball and took four wickets under his kitty.
He had taken nine wickets during both the innings of the third Test match and then repeated his heroics at the MCG, where he was in sublime form. He also made significant contributions with the bat as both he and Akash Deep helped the team stop the follow-on during the third Test match.
A painful end in Sydney
Bumrah once again became the stand-in skipper for the fifth and the last Test match in Sydney as Rohit Sharma 'opted out' of this must-win clash. But this time, things didn't go in his favor as the team suffered a batting collapse once again but he did score a gritty knock of 22 runs during the first innings and helped his team post a target of 185 runs.
Bumrah then took two wickets during the first innings and a lot of people thought that he would repeat his Perth heroics. But he then bowled just 10 overs as he had sustained a back injury and was seen rushing to the hospital for some scans on the second day.
He did come into bat on the third day as the hosts won the match by six wickets and also clinched the series.
But he can still hold his head high owing to his brilliant individual performance. He had taken 32 wickets in this series at a brilliant average of 13.06 and was thus adjudged the Player of the Series award.