India’s bowling icon, Jasprit Bumrah, after having the best-ever annual haul in red-ball cricket, has been crowned as the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year 2024
Whether it be the recent Border Gavaskar Trophy or the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, Jasprit Bumrah has always played a crucial role in most of the wins for India. Excelling both in home and away conditions, Bumrah was the standout bowler in the world in 2024 and contributed single-handedly to keeping India in contention in the ICC World Test Championship standings.
“Bumrah was the best bowler in the world in 2024, doing well not only at home but also away, and proving an important contributor in keeping India in contention in the ICC World Test Championship standings,” said the ICC in a press release.
“I feel highly privileged to be receiving this ICC men’s Test Cricketer of the Year. Test cricket will always be that format close to my heart. Being recognized from this platform is, of course, very special for me,” Bumrah said in a media release.
Jasprit Bumrah’s Test Performance
The right-arm bowler returned to the longest format in late 2023 after recovering from a back injury and surpassed R Ashwin’s legendary record for the highest ICC Test bowling rating for an Indian bowler after bowling a staggering 357 overs in the red-ball format and picked up 71 wickets at an average of 14.92, which is best among all bowlers who have registered 40 or more wickets in this calendar year. For most Test wickets in 2024, he finished above Gus Atkinson of England, who is second in the list with 52 wickets from 11 games.
Bumrah’s 71 wickets have made him the fourth Indian bowler to take more than 70 Test wickets in a calendar year, following the steps of Anil Kumble, and Kapil Dev. Across Test history, among the 17 bowlers who achieved the milestone of taking 70+ wickets in a calendar year, none was as low as Bumrah’s as his annual strike rate was 30.1 in 2024. The 31-year-old Bumrah finished off the year perfectly by taking 32 wickets in five test matches against Australia, for which he was awarded the Player of the Series.
With this award, Bumrah is now the sixth Indian cricketer to win the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award, thus joining the elite of list players which includes – Rahul Dravid (2004), Gautam Gambhir (2009), Virender Sehwag (2010), R Ashwin (2016) and Virat Kohli (2018). Further, Bumrah pipped fellow nominees like England’s Harry Brook and Joe Root, and ICC’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year Kamindu Mendis to win the award.
