Jasprit Bumrah took the final wicket of the Australian second innings at the MCG to take his Test average in 2024 below 15.
Bumrah cleaned up Scott Boland with his fourth ball of the day to bowl Australia out for 234, setting India a target of 340. It was his fifth wicket of the innings as he ended with figures of 5-57.
The last wicket took Bumrah's Test bowling average for the year down to 14.92 as he finished with 71 wickets in the format in 2024. In the process, he became the first ever bowler to take more than 70 Test wickets in a calendar year at an average below 15.
With a 70-wicket cut-off, the previous best average in a year was 16.90 by Muttiah Muralidaran in 2006, followed by 18.2 by Shane Warne in 1994. Among fast bowlers, the record was held by Allan Donald, who took 80 wickets at 19.63 in 1998.
If the cut-off is reduced to 50 wickets in a year, only two bowlers have had better averages in a year than Bumrah in 2024 – Syd Barnes in 1912, when he took 61 wickets at 14.14, and Imran Khan in 1982, when he took 62 at 13.29.
Bumrah's strike rate of 30.1 is also the best ever by a bowler to have taken more than 55 wickets in a year.
Best bowling averages in a year in Test cricket (min 70 wickets)
Player | Mat | Wkts | Average | Econ | SR | 5WI | 10WM | Year |
Jasprit Bumrah (IND) | 13 | 71 | 14.92 | 2.96 | 30.1 | 5 | 0 | 2024 |
Muttiah Muralidaran (SL) | 11 | 90 | 16.9 | 2.58 | 39.2 | 9 | 5 | 2006 |
Shane Warne (AUS) | 10 | 70 | 18.2 | 2.02 | 53.9 | 6 | 2 | 1994 |
Muttiah Muralidaran (SL) | 10 | 75 | 19.5 | 2.34 | 49.8 | 7 | 3 | 2000 |
Allan Donald (SA) | 14 | 80 | 19.63 | 2.91 | 40.4 | 7 | 0 | 1998 |
Dale Steyn (SA) | 13 | 74 | 20.01 | 3.34 | 35.8 | 5 | 1 | 2008 |
Malcolm Marshall (WI) | 13 | 73 | 20.15 | 2.71 | 44.5 | 9 | 1 | 1984 |
Joel Garner (WI) | 15 | 79 | 20.62 | 2.69 | 45.8 | 4 | 0 | 1984 |
Dennis Lillee (AUS) | 13 | 85 | 20.95 | 2.88 | 43.6 | 5 | 2 | 1981 |
Muttiah Muralidaran (SL) | 12 | 80 | 21.23 | 2.17 | 58.6 | 7 | 4 | 2001 |
Shane Warne (AUS) | 15 | 96 | 22.02 | 2.92 | 45.1 | 6 | 2 | 2005 |
Kapil Dev (IND) | 17 | 74 | 22.95 | 2.86 | 48 | 5 | 0 | 1979 |
Kapil Dev (IND) | 18 | 75 | 23.18 | 3 | 46.2 | 5 | 1 | 1983 |
Shane Warne (AUS) | 16 | 72 | 23.56 | 2.01 | 70.1 | 2 | 0 | 1993 |
R Ashwin (IND) | 12 | 72 | 23.9 | 2.94 | 48.7 | 8 | 3 | 2016 |
Shane Warne (AUS) | 12 | 70 | 24.07 | 2.91 | 49.6 | 5 | 2 | 2004 |
Graham McKenzie (AUS) | 14 | 71 | 24.46 | 2.53 | 57.8 | 4 | 1 | 1964 |
Anil Kumble (IND) | 12 | 74 | 24.83 | 2.99 | 49.7 | 6 | 2 | 2004 |
Bumrah's five-for at MCG was also his third of the series, taking his wickets tally to 30 from four Tests. Only three other fast bowlers have taken 30 or more wickets in a bilateral series in the 21st century – Mitchell Johnson (37 wickets at 13.97) in the 2013 Ashes, Courtney Walsh (34 wickets at 12.82) against England in 2000, and Glenn McGrath (32 wickets at 16.93) in the 2001 Ashes.
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