India faced a major scare at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday after pace speller Jasprit Bumrah broke down at mid-on in the 20th over of Australia’s innings in the pink-ball Test.
Four balls into his 20th over, Bumrah went down with some discomfort on his leg. The physios quickly came in, forcing the game to stop. Three support staff were seen working on Bumrah’s groin area and bowling on his shoulder due to Bumrah’s pain.
Bumrah soon collected himself after centurion Travis Head scored a four. After Mohammad Siraj cleaned up the head in the next over, Bumrah returned to continue his spell, his niggle likely to have provoked team management and fans alike.
In his second over after resuming his bowling, Bumrah cleaned up Australian captain Pat Cummins for his fourth wicket as Australia moved into the dinner break at 332/8 with a 142-run lead over the visitors.
Bumrah was India’s seam spinner in the absence of Mohammed Shami. Bumrah, who turned 31 on Friday, took figures of 8/72 to lead India to a stunning 295-run victory in Perth. This is the best figure so far by a visiting fast bowling skipper in a Test in Australia with eight wickets.
Bumrah also obliterated the Australian top order in his first innings in Adelaide. After dismissing Usman Khawaja overnight, Bumrah started the morning session with the wickets of Nathan McSweeney and Steve Smith. Bumrah also crossed the 50-wicket mark in Tests this year, the only bowler to achieve the mark in 2024. He is also the third Indian fast bowler to take 50 wickets in a calendar year after Kapil Dev (twice) and Zaheer Khan. .