Another fascinating chapter has been added to the already illustrious career of Jasprit Bumrah. The imperious fast bowler led a young team to a monumental win against the ICC World Test Championship holders Australia in the opening match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 series at Optus Stadium, Perth on Monday. (Day 4 Highlights | Scorecard | More Cricket News)
After the 0-3 humbling, a rare series whitewash, against New Zealand, they landed in Australia without captain Rohit Sharma. And the odds were stacked against the young side. The start, 150 all out in the first innings after opting to bat first, set tongues wagging.
But as it turned out, Bumrah had the last laugh. Despite their alarmingly poor show in the first sessions, the visitors responded sensationally with the stand-in skipper leading from the front; and he won the Player of the Match award, deservedly so. The 30-year-old was not the only Indian to shine on the field, however.
Young Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a brilliant 161 in the second essay, while his opening partner KL Rahul, promoted in the absence of Rohit and Shubman Gill, dug in. Virat Kohli, following months in the wilderness, hit a sublime century, exactly, for his 30th Test ton. Then there were the debutants, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana, showing India's bench strength.
With that, here's a look at the five prime talking points from the glorious Indian victory, from a statistical lens:
India's Comeback For The Ages
Not only did India overcome the embarrassing 0-3 whitewash at home to New Zealand, they also offset their lowly 150-run total in the first innings. The remarkable nature of this comeback is illustrated by the fact that India have only twice won Test matches with lower first-innings totals – 104 all out against Australia in the 2004 Mumbai Test on a rank turner, and 145 against England in the 2021 Ahmedabad Test.
Jasprit Bumrah's Unmatched Game-Changing Ability
There is little doubt left as to the kind of singular match-winning capability Jasprit Bumrah brings to the Indian team, across formats. The stand-in skipper ended with a stunning average of 9.0 in the Perth Test with match figures of 8 for 72. Only two India bowlers have produced a better bowling average in an away Test while scalping eight or more wickets.
India's Youth Trumps Australia's Experience
With the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma and mainstays like Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the playing XI due to varying reasons, India fielded a relatively young outfit at Optus Stadium. But that didn't come in the way of a roaring win. In fact, the ratio between the aggregate Test caps of Australia and India's playing XIs in the Test (2.32) was the fourth-highest between the opposition and India when the latter have won.
New Perth Stadium Breached For First Time
There was a lot of talk, going into the opening Test as to how the new Perth venue is a fortress for the Aussies, with four wins in as many five-day games before this. But just like the Gabba in 2021, India breached the so-called Optus Stadium fortress too, inflicting a massive defeat for good measure. Interestingly, the team batting first there has won all five Tests at the venue.
Hosts' Batting Under Pressure, Big Time
That Australia's top and middle-order is susceptible in Tests lately was a well-known fact, but the way it crumbled twice in Perth has raised serious concerns Down Under. The home team's top five could muster a total of 57 runs across two innings, which is the third lowest for them in a men's Test and their lowest since 1888. The grave numbers make many wonder whether the Aussies can find a way back into the series.
