• Friday, March 29, 2024

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Bumrah sprints to 100 Test wicket club, eclipses Kapil Dev

Jasprit Bumrah celebrates with his team-mates after picking a wicket in a Test match against England during the 2021 series. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

JASPRIT Bumrah on Monday (6) broke an old record as an Indian speedster when he picked the wicket of England’s Ollie Pope (2) on the final day of the fourth Test match at the Oval. The wicket saw the ace pacer become the fastest quick bowler to reach the 100-wicket club in the long format, eclipsing legendary all rounder and former India captain Kapil Dev.

Bumrah, who has only four of his hundred-plus Test wickets coming at home, bettered Kapil Dev’s record by a match by reaching the milestone in his 24th game as against the former great’s 25.

ALSO READ: India beat England by 157 runs to go 2-1 up

Bumrah 23rd Indian bowler to take 100 Test wickets

Also by entering the three-figure club, Bumrah became the 23rd Indian bowler to accomplish the milestone. He is also the eighth-fastest Indian to achieve a century of wickets in Tests along with his national colleague Ravindra Jadeja who also made it in his 24th match.

Bumrah is currently ranked 22nd on the list of Indian bowlers with the most number of Test wickets but he has the best average of 22.76 and a strike rate of 51.3. He went past former left-hand seamer Irfan Pathan who has 100 wickets in 29 Tests when he took the wicket to Jonny Bairstow (zero in four balls) at the Oval. Former India captain Anil Kumble is the highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 619 scalps.

Bumrah struck twice in back-to-back overs on the fifth day of the Oval Test to remove Pope and Bairstow to give India an opportunity to win the match and go 2-1 in the series. England, who resumed from their overnight score of 77 for no loss in pursuit of a target of 368, lost wickets in a heap to get reduced to 193 for 8 when the last reports came.

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