Sydney: Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been a workhorse during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and to such an extent that it would not be wrong to give this series a tag of 'Bumrah vs Australia'.
Amid uninspiring performances from Indian batters and inconsistent bowling from other pacers like Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Harshit Rana and spinners Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Bumrah has found himself as the centre of all attention.
When India's usually dominant spinners struggle to draw some help from the pitch and pacers fail to intimidate the Aussies, it is Bumrah who is looked to as a saviour by his team and fans in search of a crucial wicket. Sometimes, Bumrah has had to take this responsibility with a bat in hand too. Let us look at Bumrah's workload throughout the Test series:
-First Test at Perth
In this match, Bumrah ended up with a total of eight runs in one innings and overall figures of 8/72 in 30 overs, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings, and figures of 5/30 in 18 overs.
During the first day, Bumrah was brought into the services with the bat and he scored eight runs. To end the day on a high after bundling out of India for 150, he also took two wickets to end Australia's day at 67/7. On the second day, he removed skipper Pat Cummins and Alex Carey to restrict Australia to 104 and give India a 46-run lead. India ended day two on 172/0.
After India declared their innings at 487/6 on day three, Bumrah gave India the start they needed, got two early wickets to put Australia at trouble on 12/3, removing Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne.
On day four, he took the all-important wicket of Travis Head and bowled plenty to skittle out Australia for 238 runs to seal a memorable win.
-Second Test at Adelaide
In this Test, Bumrah scored two runs in two innings and took four wickets across both innings, with a four wicket haul in first innings. He bowled total of 24 overs in the innings.
The pink-ball Test saw India skittled out for 180 runs after electing to bat first on day one itself, with Bumrah scoring a duck. However, he took the wicket of Usman Khawaja early, but despite his grind, Australia ended on 86/1.
Day two came and who else, but Bumrah provided the breakthrough by removing McSweeney. He took 4/61 in 23 overs as Australia scored 337 and secured a 157-run lead thanks to a Travis Head counterattack. India ended the day with half their star-studded side back in the hut for 128 runs.
On day three, Bumrah was required to bat once again, scoring 2* as India was all out for just 175 runs thanks to a Cummins fifer and set a total of 19 runs for Australia, which they chased down easily with Bumrah bowling just one over and giving away two runs.
-Third Test at Brisbane
During the third Test at Brisbane, Bumrah scored 10* in one inning. He also took a total of nine wickets in the match and bowled 34 overs. This also included a spell of 6/76 in the first innings and then three wickets in the second.
On day one curtailed by rain, Bumrah bowled but did not get any wicket as Australia ended on 28/0 after being put to bat first by India. On the next day, Bumrah did rock the Australian line-up with quick scalps of openers Khawaja and McSweeney but centuries from Steve Smith and Travis Head gave Australia heavy momentum and runs. Australia ended day two on 405/7, with Bumrah taking a five-wicket haul.
On day three, Bumrah removed Starc and Australia was bundled out for 445 runs. India ended day three on 51/4. On day four, India saw resilient half-centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul. Bumrah also made 10* in 38 balls with a six and had a 39-run stand with Akash Deep that helped India prevent follow-on and end the day on 252/9.
India was bundled out for 260 on day five. Australia put themselves to bat again and Bumrah took three key wickets of Khawaja, Labuschagne and Cummins as Australia declared the innings and gave India 275 runs to chase on final day. However, India ended the match at 8/0 as rain interrupted the play. The match was drawn.
-Fourth Test at Melbourne
The Boxing Day Test at Melbourne saw Bumrah taking up his biggest workload as a bowler. In both innings, Bumrah did score ducks. But with the ball, Bumrah bowled around 53 overs, taking nine wickets for 156 runs, including figures of 5/57 in 24.4 overs in the second innings.
Australia elected to bat first. They ended the day at 311/6, with Khawaja, debutant Sam Konstas, Labuschagne and Steve Smith making fifties. Though Bumrah was troubled by Konstas and smashed for 34 runs exclusively by him, he did take three wickets of Khawaja, Head and Marsh to end the day.
On the next day, Bumrah toiled hard for his last wicket, with Lyon as his last scalp which saw Australia bundled out for 474 runs. India ended the day at 164/5. On day three, Bumrah batted for three balls, registering a duck as India ended it on 358/9.
India was skittled out for 369 on day four start after Nitish fell following a brilliant ton. Australia ended on 228/9 at the end of day four and had a comfortable lead of 333 runs, with Bumrah taking four wickets in the innings.
On the final day of action, Bumrah broke the fighting half-century stand between Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland, getting Lyon for 41 and bundling out Australia for 234, giving India 340 runs to chase. India imploded during their run chase and needed Bumrah to bat eight balls, but he could not score any runs. India was bundled out for 155 runs. Australia won by 184 runs.
-Fifth Test at Sydney
On day one, India elected to bat first and needed Bumrah to bat, scoring 22 in 17 balls, with three fours and a six, taking India to 185. He also got the first wicket of Khawaja to end India's day on high.
So far in the series, Bumrah has outbowled everyone, taking 31 wickets at an average of 12.64, with best figures of 6/76. He has taken three fifers. He has bowled 143.2 overs in the series, the most by an Indian bowler, with Siraj being the second one with 130.1 overs, 16 wickets and an average of 31.56.
Across the series, only Australian stars Cummins (152 overs and 22 scalps) and Starc (149.2 overs and 18 wickets) have bowled more.
Also with the bat, he has scored 42 runs at an average of 8.40, facing 87 balls and having the best score of 22. It is more runs than skipper Rohit Sharma, who has made 31 runs in three matches and five innings at an average of 6.20, having faced 110 balls. His best score is 10. (ANI)