In a historic first for Indian cricket, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has reached the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings. The 30-year-old right-arm bowler has never been No.1 in the longest format before; until now, that honor had only been held by Indian spinners such as Bishen Singh Bedi, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin. His climb to the top was cemented by a brilliant nine-wicket haul during the second Test match against England.
India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah scripted history, becoming the first pace bowler in Indian Cricket’s history to secure the No.1 spot in the ICC Test rankings. It is the first time the 30-year-old right-arm pacer has topped the men’s Test bowling rankings. The other Indian bowlers who had claimed the top spots in ICC Test rankings are namely Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Bishen Singh Bedi. Bumrah’s 9-wicket haul in the second Test against England helped him to rise to the top.
Although Bumrah has secured ten five-wicket hauls in 34 Test matches, he had never previously cracked the top two, staying at third. This year, however, he's been in peak form, recording 6/61 in Cape Town against South Africa and 6/45 in his recent clash with England. This surge allowed him to displace teammate Ravichandran Ashwin, who had been the world's top bowler since March last year. Following a disappointing showing in Vizag where he only took three wickets, Ashwin dropped to third place. Kagiso Rabada of South Africa now occupies the second spot behind Bumrah.
Bumrah dethroned teammate Ashwin, who had been No.1 bowler since March last year. The senior spinner didn’t have the best of outings for India against England in Vizag, picking up only three wickets and dropping two places to third in the recently released Test bowling rankings. South Africa’s pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada grabbed the second place behind Bumrah.
Bumrah currently tops the Test rankings with 881 points. This achievement completes a rare feat, as he has already been ranked No.1 in both T20Is and ODIs at various points in his career. To mark the occasion, Bumrah shared his thoughts on Instagram with a post titled ‘the support vs the congratulations,’ which has since gained massive traction across social media.