On Wednesday, Jasprit Bumrah became the first Indian bowler to top the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings following a superb performance in the second match of their ICC World Test Championship series against England in Visakhapatnam.
The 30-year-old’s nine-wicket performance has propelled him beyond Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, and Ravichandran Ashwin, making him only the fourth Indian to reach the top spot following spinners Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Bishan Singh Bedi.
Bumrah’s two five-wicket hauls in 2024 were in Test matches; the Indian pacer started the year with figures of 6/61 against South Africa in Cape Town, and he followed that up with an equally spectacular 6/45 against England in his most recent outing.
Bumrah, who was awarded Player of the Match after helping India tie the five-match series in Visakhapatnam with a 106-run victory, broke Ashwin’s 11-month dominance. It is the first time Bumrah has topped the rankings. Despite having 10 five-wicket hauls for his country in 34 Test matches, he has never finished better than third.
Bumrah presently has 881 rating points, while Ashwin (904) and Jadeja (899) are the only Indian bowlers with greater rating points. In March 2017, Ashwin and Jadeja shared the #1 spot.
Despite missing the Proteas’ Test series in New Zealand, South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada, who leads the pace department, remains ranked second among Test bowlers. Ashwin, who had been ranked top since March of last year, got only three wickets for India in that same encounter, dropping two places to third.
