Jasprit Bumrah was a member of the Wisden men's Test XI of 2024, receiving 100 per cent votes from every member of the 41-strong selection panel. He was also named ICC's men's Test cricketer of the year as well as men's cricketer of the year. Aadya Sharma profiles Bumrah's magical 2024.
This article first appeared in issue 84 of Wisden Cricket Monthly, available to buy in print or digital form here.
It’s mad to think that Jasprit Bumrah is yet to complete a decade in international cricket and already finds himself comfortably in all-time great category. An outlier in India’s thin lineage of fast-bowling superstars, he is undoubtedly among India’s greatest match-winners, a line up historically ruled by batters.
Bumrah’s eminence finds a sweet spot between statistical and aesthetic brilliance. By pure numbers, 2024 was his best year yet. He played more Tests than he had done previously in a calendar year and decorated his cabinet with his first ICC trophy, scooping the Player of the Tournament award at the T20 World Cup.
His year started with England’s tour to India, where he hijacked the expected battle between home spinners and visiting bats. Two of his dismissals are hard to forget: the nightmarish reverse-swinging yorker to topple Ollie Pope in Vizag and, later that same day, castling Ben Stokes with an inducker that led England’s captain to drop his bat in awe.
Also read: 2024 in review: Wisden Cricket Monthly's men's Test XI of the year
Bumrah played no ODIs all year, but eight games at the T20 World Cup were enough to satiate his whiteball cravings. He averaged a ridiculous 8.26 in the competition, swinging the final in India’s favour with a devastating late salvo.
He was also among the top three wicket takers at the IPL, his economy (6.48) unmatched by anyone with more than one wicket, and this in a record-breaking year when the average runs per over stood at 9.56. As always, he excelled at slipping in the slower one as much as the 90mph toe-crushing thunderbolts. The pinpoint yorker was a homemade mechanism a young Bumrah employed to escape the wrath of his mother, practising to hit the edge between the wall and the floor outside his home so as not to make any noise. Today, those rigid arms rotate overtime to inspire millions of youngsters.
Read: Jasprit Bumrah named ICC men's cricketer of the year
“Bumrah is a coach’s dream to work with,” Mahela Jayawardene, head coach of Mumbai Indians, tells WCM, calling him one of the most disciplined players he has worked with. “He is very low maintenance. The Jasprit of today came from putting his hand up and taking on tough challenges, knowing that he has the confidence and self-belief to deliver.”
Bumrah’s 2024 cemented his legend status, but the year wasn’t without its challenges. The 3-0 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand was the most notable, averaging 42.33 in two Tests and missing the third due to a viral infection.
After that historic home loss, no one expected a comeback like we witnessed at Perth. Captaining the side in Rohit Sharma’s absence, he razed Australia with a five-for, finishing with eight wickets and a famous win. He added 24 more scalps from the next four Tests, virtually carrying India’s bowling attack.
Also read: Wisden's men's Test spell of 2024, No.1: Shamar Joseph's 7-68
“He has always been a man of few words, but he’s had a lasting impact on those who have sought his advice,” says Jayawardene of Bumrah’s leadership style. “He will do his training in the nets and then spend time with the other bowlers and is able to guide them on what they should do, rather than telling them what works for him.”
More than a third of his dismissals on the Australia tour were either bowled or lbw, with batters struggling to keep out his viciously skiddy inswingers. Plenty more were sucked into edging behind to the keeper. With Bumrah, it’s hard to decipher the line: the ball, upon pitching, either retains the seam position or scrambles. The stiff, hyperextending action makes it doubly difficult.
“For Bumrah, every ball that he bowls needs to have an impact for his team,” says Jayawardene. “So it is not just running up and hitting the line and length, but being masterful in thinking and then executing it to perfection that leaves the batsman thinking about the next ball if he survives this one. And this is his mindset for all three formats.”
Also read: Wisden's men's Test innings of 2024, No.1: Aiden Markram's 106
A master of his craft, Bumrah’s biggest challenge is defying injuries. A stress fracture in his back kept him out for nearly a year in 2022, but he came back a better version of himself. There have been serious concerns over his workload, more so given the prolonged absence of Mohammed Shami. Until the end of the fourth Test in Australia, he had bowled 141.2 overs, more than anyone on either side. During the fifth at Sydney a back spasm forced him to undergo scans, exposing Indian fans to their biggest fear.
With India’s biggest batting stars in decline, Bumrah has become his country’s understated headliner. In a country beset with fan-wars and hypercriticism, he has emerged as a rare uniting force. He isn’t a larger-than-life demigod, but a relatable common man who has maximised his talent, rising to the top from obscurity. His peers respect him, fans adore him, but at the centre of all the frenzy is a family man dedicated to his craft.
“He has a shell that he keeps to, once off the field,” explains Jayawardene, “and that keeps him in a sweet spot, like sometimes preferring to spend time in the hotel room if it’s a break day, because that is what gives him the most joy. “Over the years, Jasprit has shown what a genuine and good human being he is. And that has translated to the cricket field as well.”
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