‘Mentality Monster’ Jasprit Bumrah reached new heights in world cricket as he scaled the No. 1 position in the ICC Test rankings for bowlers. Bumrah dethroned his own teammate Ravichandran Ashwin to make the top spot his own. In the process, the marquee pacer also became the first bowler in the history of the game to have claimed the No. 1 spot in all three formats of the game at some point in his career. While a total of three players have done so in rankings for batters, no bowler had ever managed to do so before Bumrah.
Cricket, Not Just A Batter’s World
Cricket, in the modern game, has become a batter’s world, with field restrictions becoming trickier and bowlers being penalised for the smallest of mistakes in an era of entertainment. But, even in a sport where batters make headlines more often than not, Bumrah became the infiltrator to register a landmark that no bowler ever managed to before.
From India, Virat Kohli is the only batter to have claimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC rankings in all three formats before. The other two batters to have done so are Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting, both from Australia. In fact, Ponting is the only player to be placed on top of the ranking charts in all three formats simultaneously.
But, what makes Bumrah special is the fact that no bowler even came close to producing such brilliance in all three formats of the game as Bumrah did. Though one can argue that the likes of Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, etc. didn’t get to play in the T20 era, what Bumrah is doing at times when cricket has become so demanding, shows the level of work he has put into himself to be this versatile.
As Bumrah rose highest in the ICC Test rankings, the entire cricket world bowed, even those who had been criticising him for a while now. The veteran pacer let his feelings on the matter known himself.
Jasprit Bumrah’s Rise To No. 1 Spot In ICC Test Rankings
The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued the latest Test rankings which saw Bumrah join this elite list after he produced mind-boggling figures of 9/91 during India’s series-levelling victory in the second Test at Vizag.
Bumrah was at the no. 3 spot before the match began and moved to the top of the rankings, leaving behind Ravichandran Ashwin who had occupied the top spot since March last year.
Before reaching the summit, the 30-year-old Bumrah had never even managed to claim the No. 2 spot in Test ranking charts, all thanks to India’s spin-dominant pitches. But, recently he bagged two 5-wicket-hauls.
Those fifers came in 2024, with the first one came against South Africa in Cape Town in January, where he claimed 6/61 and the second one in Vizag when he produced figures of 6/45 in his recent appearance against England.
Jasprit Bumrah, Truly Limitless
Whenever a Test match in India is being talked about, the chances of bowlers emerging as top wicket-takers remain close to none. Bumrah, with his 9 wickets in the Vizag Test, didn’t just finish the match as the top wicket-taker but also grabbed the player of the match award.
Courtesy of his heroics, the star pacer became the first fast bowler from the country to be crowned No. 1 Test bowler in the world. When it comes to spinners, the likes of R Ashwin, Bishen Singh Bedi and Anil Kumble had achieved the feat before.
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