SYDNEY: Jasprit Bumrah, who captained India in Sydney after Rohit Sharma opted out of the match, did not take the field after suffering from an injury on day two — a back spasm that led to him leaving the field and not bowling in the second innings — still was adjudged the player of the series for his stellar show till then.
Just as Australia won the series 3-1, Bumrah, who took 32 wickets in nine innings at 13.06, fell short of a record for most wickets by a visiting bowler in a bilateral Test series Down Under.
It belongs to Maurice Tate, the English bowler, who took 38 wickets in the 1924-25 Ashes. And yet, he was the best bowler in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy by a mile.
He admitted his frustration on not being able to take the field on day three when India needed him the most defending 161 in the fourth innings.
“Little frustrating to not be out there but sometimes you have to respect your body and listen to it. Missed out on the spiciest day of the series, but it is what it is. The other bowlers stepped up in the last innings as well. So that was the chat this morning. Lots of ifs and buts. The whole series was well fought and it was not a one-sided contest," Bumrah said in the post-match presentation when he was awarded the player of the series medal.
"The team that holds its nerves in tough moments comes out on top — that is how Test cricket goes. Lot of learnings and positives for us. The youngsters are keen and would have surely learnt a lot from this. They are disappointed that we haven't won it but it would be a learning curve. It was a great series. Congratulations to Australia. They deserved to win,” Bumrah added.
A little while later, head coach Gautam Gambhir said that the extent of the injury is still not clear and the medical team is monitoring it. “Not at the moment honestly because the medical team is working on him. So we'll give you the right update at the right time,” Gambhir said in the press conference.
“I mean, going off the rest of the series, you'd say so. You know, every time he bowled he seemed to have an impact and took some key wickets. So yeah, no doubt that helped our chase a little bit,” Australian captain Pat Cummins said about not having to face Bumrah during the 162-run chase on day three.
India’s next assignment is the white-ball series against England which Bumrah was expected to be rested for anyway. There will be more clarity on where he stands in the lead up to the ICC 2025 Champions Trophy in February.