Surpassing Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah becomes the first Indian pacer to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year for his incredible performance in 2024.
Following his incredible performance in 2024, the G.O.A.T Indian Pacer, Jasprit Bumrah was awarded the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2024 Award – announced by the global cricket body on Tuesday evening. While getting honored, he has surpassed fellow nominees Travis Head, Joe Root, and Harry Brook to the title.
Notably, Jasprit Bumrah is the first Indian Pacer to win this award and the fifth Indian recipient of this prestigious award after Rahul Dravid (2004), Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Ravichandran Ashwin (2016) and Virat Kohli (2017, 2018). The most feared bowler in all the formats of cricket recently, Bumrah was all over the headlines for taking 32 wickets in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy – the first pacer to do so.
Talking about the BGT, the 31-year-old pacer attained the No.1 ranking in Tests and also became the fastest Indian pacer to reach 200 wickets. Bumrah’s brilliance was further reflected when he crossed the highest 900-point mark in the ICC rankings by taking 71 Test wickets in just 13 matches, thus surpassing Ravichandran Ashwin. Due to this, earlier, Jasprit Bumrah was also awarded the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year 2024 award.
Jasprit Bumrah Steller Performance in 2024
For Bumrah, 2024 was all about success, including the ICC T20 Men’s World Cup, and tests, including the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Whether in T20Is or Tests, Bumrah has set a new record in both the formats. Talking about the T20Is, he registered 15 wickets at a staggering average of 8.26 and a frugal economy of 4.17, thus becoming the Player of the Tournament at the 2024 T20 World Cup – leading India to lift the T20I World Cup after 17 long years.
Coming to the tests – He registered 71 wickets in just 13 matches – the highest by any bowler in 2024, and second to Kapil Dev among Indians in a calendar year. He then also breached the 900-point bar in ICC rankings, the highest for any Indian bowler in Test history. Not only that, but Bumrah went past 200 wickets, and his bowling average was surpassed by none. He set new benchmarks in every way, leading him to win the ICC Cricketer of the Year.
What’s Next for Bumrah?
Jasprit Bumrah was rested for five weeks after suffering a back spasm while playing the last Test against Australia in Sydney. He will undergo scans on 2 February, to get the exact update of the injury. Despite being injured, Jasprit Bumrah has been named in the Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which commences next month.
