Jasprit Bumrah was the lone bright spot for Indians on the second day of the third Test against Australia as his five-wicket haul brought some respite for the visitors at the Gabba, in what was dull day for Rohit Sharma’s men. After more than two sessions were washed out due to rain in Brisbane on Day 1, Bumrah’s started Day 2 by removing openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney early.
However, it was the 241-run stand between Travis Head (152) and Steve Smith (101) for the fourth wicket, that put Australia on the driver’s seat. On a track, where Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj struggled to make inroads against the opposition, Bumrah let his ball do the magic as he accounted for both Head and Smith along with the wicket of Mitchell Marsh. The Indian pacer finished the day with 5/72.
In the process, Bumrah overtook legendary Kapil Dev for most five-wicket hauls outside Asia and most fifers in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries. The world no.1 Test bowler now has 10 five-wicket hauls outside Asia and eight in SENA conditions.
Dev, who was the captain of India 1983 World Cup-winning Indian team, had nine five-wicket hauls outside Asia. and seven in SENA countries. The 30-year-old now has three five-wicket hauls in Australia and South Africa each and and two each in West Indies and England. Kapil took five fifers in Australia, two fifers in England and the West Indies each.
Jasprit Bumrah equals Pat Cummins
With this fifer, Bumrah also became the bowler with the third-highest five-wicket hauls in World Test Championship (WTC) history, equal with Australian skipper Pat Cummins (nine five-wicket hauls each).India’s Ravichandran Ashwin (11) leads the pack followed by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon (10).
He is also the leading wicket-taker in Tests in 2024 with 73 scalps from 20 matches. This year, Bumrah took four five-wicket hauls so far with a best of 6/45.
