After dismissing Nathan Lyon in the opening over of the final morning in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, India’s bowling ace Jasprit Bumrah registered his 30th wicket of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series, a mark that hadn’t been touched by a visiting bowler on Australian soil for over three decades.
While Bumrah is only the second Indian after spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi to take 30 or more wickets in a single Test series in Australia, he is the first visiting bowler to touch that mark since the legendary West Indies pacer Curtly Ambrose‘s 33 wickets during the Caribbean team’s 1992-93 tour.
Bedi took 31 wickets in five Tests during India’s 1967-68 tour.

England’s John Snow (31 wickets in 1970-71) and New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (33 wickets in 1985-86) are the other two who have taken 30 or more wickets in a Test series in Australia in the last 70 years.
But Bumrah has the best strike rate among all five at a staggering 28.2. Also, Bumrah’s stunning average of 12.83 in this BGT is only second to Hadlee’s 12.15 for bowlers with 20-plus wickets in any series in Australia.
Continuing his bowling show that ranks among one of the greatest in the history of Test cricket, Bumrah also completed his third five-for of the series, which made him the fourth Indian bowler and the first Indian pacer to do that in a Test series in Australia, after spinners Bedi, BS Chandrasekhar and Anil Kumble.

As far as the BGT is concerned, Bumrah now tops the list of bowlers with most wickets in a single edition of the BGT played in Australia. He has gone past Ben Hilfenhaus’s 27 wickets, which the Aussie pacer took in the 2011-12 series.
With three more wickets, Bumrah will break Harbhajan’s Singh’s record for most wickets in a single edition of the BGT. Harbhajan took 32 wickets with his off-spin in the 2001 series hosted by India.
Australia, who were bowled out for 234 in their second innings on Monday, set India a daunting target of 340 to win on the final day.
The five-Test series is tied at 1-1, with the concluding match to be played in Sydney.