Jasprit Bumrah became the fastest Indian fast bowler to 50 Test wickets as he achieved the feat in 21 innings and 12 Test matches. The overall Indian record is held by Ravichandran Ashwin who had gotten to the feat in 16 innings. All four bowlers above Bumrah in the list are spinners making him the quickest Indian fast bowler to 50 Test wickets.
Bumrah's rise has been a sight to watch in Test cricket. Having made a debut in South Africa last year, Bumrah has quickly climbed up the Test rankings with his exceptional red-ball bowling. Almost dismissed as a T20 bowler once, Bumrah has shown that he is much more than that in his short career so far.
He has played Tests in India, South Africa, Australia, West Indies and England and has a five-wicket haul in each of those four away venues - the first from Asia to achieve this feat in those four countries. He began his career with a 3/39 at Cape Town in the first Test against South Africa and grabbed a 5/54 at Johannesburg in the final Test of the series which India won.
In Nottingham in England, Bumrah snaffled another five-wicket haul - a 5/85 in the first Test of the series which India lost marginally. He went on to destroy Australia at Melbourne with a career-best 6/33 and then became part of a rare group when he picked up a five-wicket haul in West Indies by conceding under 10 runs.
In terms of cumulative averages, Bumrah went from 28 and 34.57 in his first Test to a deadly Test average of 20.63 after the Antigua Test match. His bowling strike rate has also gotten better. From 62 in the opening Test at Cape Town to 46.7, Bumrah's strike rate has steadily gone down.
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Since his debut, Bumrah is the fifth-highest wicket-taker in Tests with 55 in 11 Test matches. The ones above him in the list have all played more Test matches and only one (Pat Cummins) has a better average and strike rate. Only Kagiso Rabada has more five-wicket hauls than Bumrah's four but the Indian has played three Tests less than the South African seamer.
In terms of rankings, Bumrah has taken a giant leap. He ranked 85 in the Test bowler's list after the first Test but this has progressively gotten better. He ended the South African series, his maiden Test series, as the 42nd ranked bowler in the world with a five-wicket haul at Johannesburg seeing him jump from 67 to 42.
In England, he played in just three Test matches and although he jumped to the 38th rank after a five-wicket haul at Nottingham in the first Test, the rank remained stable through the series where he was also out injured.
He was superlatively brilliant in Australia where he finished as the joint highest wicket-taker (21 wickets) with Nathan Lyon. His ranking kept getting better with each Test match. He began as the 38th ranked bowler in the world and went to 33, 28 and 16 by the end of the series.
A breakthrough into the top 10 of the rankings came at Antigua when he ripped through the West Indian line-up in the second innings with a stunning five for 7. He is now ranked the seventh-best bowler in the World after a mere 11 Test matches.
What does that say for an achievement?
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Featured image courtesy: AFP / Randy Brooks
