Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25: Jasprit Bumrah equals Kapil Dev’s record to claim…

New Delhi: India’s stand-in captain, Jasprit Bumrah created history on Saturday as he equalled former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev’s record to secure his 7th five-wicket haul in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries. Bumrah added yet another feather to his hat and added to his legacy as India’s all-time great in SENA conditions during the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Perth against Australia.

India has a weak record in SENA countries historically and started improving their record in the 2000s. During the game, Bumrah bowled 18 overs and took five wickets for 30 runs at an economy rate of 1.67. He got crucial wickets of Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Alex Carey and skipper Pat Cummins.

In 27 tests in SENA countries, the right-hand quick has claimed 118 wickets at an average of 22.55. Bumrah has taken a total of seven 5-wicket hauls so far which is equal with Kapil Dev. Bumrah is followed  BS Chandrashekhar, Zaheer Khan (six five-wicket hauls) and Bishan Singh Bedi, Anil Kumble (five five-wicket hauls).

Furthermore, Bumrah has become only the fifth Indian captain to have a five-wicket haul in Tests, besides Vinoo Mankad (one), Bishan (eight), Kapil (four) and Kumble (two).

Best bowling performances by subcontinent bowlers against ISENA countries in red-ball cricket:

Here is a list of the top 5 best bowling performances by any subcontinent bowler against the SENA countries in red-ball cricket:

What happened in the match so far?

On a juicy green top of the Optus stadium (Perth), scorched by the ‘snake cracks’ due to the unusual weather, the Indian batting lineup was rocked by the pace trio of Australia. Apart from KL Rahul (26 in 74 balls, with three fours), Rishabh Pant (37 in 78 balls, with three fours and a six) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41 in 59 balls, with six fours and a six), none of the batsmen managed to contribute any meaningful score to the team total. The men in blue ended the first innings at 150/10.

In reply, Australia ended the day one struggling at 67/7. None of the top six batters could touch the 20-run mark. On day two, Carey (21) and Mitchell Starc (26) crossed the 20-run mark, but the Aussies could manage only 104 runs and got a lead of 46 runs.