IND vs AUS: Jasprit Bumrah is the best bowler in the world, let’s settle the debate

For anyone who ever had a doubt that India’s pacer Jasprit Bumrah isn’t the best bowler in the world, think again. This IND vs AUS series, where he has bagged 29 wickets already, not only he has told the world, that he is indeed the ‘best’, but has also taken him to a different level of stardom — that only batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni enjoy in the country.

Just look at his stats in the series — he is head and shoulders above every other bowler — having bagged 29 wickets in 4 matches, 12 more than the second-placed Pat Cummins at 17. In the 128 overs he has bowled, he averages only 12. And with the wicket of Travis Head in the 4th Test at the MCG on Saturday, he became the 4th fastest bowler ever — in terms of balls bowled — to reach 200 wickets.

Player	Country	Balls Bowled
Waqar Younis	Pakistan	7,725
Dale Steyn	South Africa	7,848
Kagiso Rabada	South Africa	8,153
Jasprit Bumrah	India	8,484

Bumrah vs Pat Cummins vs Kagiso Rabada

Waqar Younis tops the list as he got to 200 scalps in 7,725 deliveries, followed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn in 7,848 deliveries, Kagiso Rabada in 8,153 and Jasprit Bumrah in 8,484. Okay, let us also settle the debate between Cummins, Rabada and Bumrah too. While the India bowler has 202 wickets and counting in the 44 matches he has played, Cummins had 203 at the same way mark. Rabada too achieved the 200-wicket mark in the 44th Test of his career.

Player Name	Matches	Innings	Wickets	Average	5 Wickets	10 Wickets
Kapil Dev	131	227	434	29.64	23	2
Zaheer Khan	92	165	311	32.94	11	1
Ishant Sharma	105	188	311	32.40	11	1
Javagal Srinath	67	121	236	30.49	10	1
Mohammed Shami	64	122	229	27.71	6	0
Jasprit Bumrah	44	85	202	19.56	12	0

But then what really separates Bumrah from the other two, is his lowest average to 200 wickets. The first in the list is of course, the 31-year-old, at 19.56. West Indian great Joel Garner stands in at second with an average of 20.34, followed by South Africa Shaun Pollock 20.39, and then Waqar — 20.61.

Wickets	Player	Series
29*	Jasprit Bumrah	2024/25
25	Kapil Dev	1991/92
21	Jasprit Bumrah	2018/19
19	Manoj Prabhakar	1991/92

With one more Test to go in the series, at Sydney, Bumrah is far from being done here. He has also broken Kapil Dev’s record of most wickets in a Test series in Australia — of 25 wickets. Not just that, he is only sixth Indian pacer to get to 200 Test wickets, after Kapil, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Javagal Srinath, and Mohammed Shami.