Boxing Day Test: Bumrah Becomes Fastest Indian to Reach 200 Test Scalps, Brings India Back Into The Game

The evergreen fiery pacer of India, Jasprit Bumrah has achieved another feat during the Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne. He scalped his 200th Test wicket. He achieved this record in just 8484 deliveries, making him the fastest Indian bowler ever to achieve this feat of 200 Test wickets in terms of balls delivered, thereby surpassing Mohammed Shami’s record of 9896 deliveries.

Bumrah’s landmark moment came on Day 4 of the Test match when he dismissed Travis Head for 1 in Australia’s second innings. This milestone wicket marked Bumrah’s 200th in his 44th Test match, placing him alongside global cricketing stalwarts such as Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada, who also achieved the feat in 44 matches.

Fewest Deliveries to 200 Test Wickets

This feat of Bumrah puts him fourth in the list of all-time bowling of the fewest deliveries to claim 200 wickets in Test cricket:

• Waqar Younis: 7725 balls
• Dale Steyn: 7848 balls
• Kagiso Rabada: 8154 balls
• Jasprit Bumrah: 8484 balls

Since his debut in Test cricket in January 2018, Bumrah has shown some extraordinary ability to deliver all conditions. Notably, he is the first bowler to gain 200 Test wickets with a bowling average of under 20 (19.56). Among active players, Kagiso Rabada comes closest to Bumrah’s incredible average. His strike rate of 42.42 comes only behind Rabada (39.42) and Dale Steyn (42.38) bowlers amongst 200-plus Test wickets.

Indian Record-Breaker Bowlers

Among the Indian bowlers, only R Ashwin has taken 200 Test wickets in fewer games than Bumrah-38. Besides, Bumrah became only the third pacer after Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc to claim 150 wickets in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) since 2019. He stands second only to Ashwin, who took 195 wickets for India, with 151 WTC wickets.

Least Consecutive Overs to 200 Test Wickets by Indian Bowlers

• Jasprit Bumrah: 8484 balls
• Mohammed Shami: 9896 balls
• R Ashwin: 10248 balls
• Kapil Dev: 11066 balls
• Ravindra Jadeja: 11989 balls

Coming to the match, Australia is leading by 207 runs. Jasprit Bumrah has scalped 4 wickets in the game so far.

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