No Bumrah, no joy: India surrender Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 7 years in Sydney

No Bumrah, no joy: India surrender Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 7 years in Sydney

 

India’s decade long domination of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy came to a grinding halt as Australia hammered the Jasprit Bumrah side by 6 wickets on Sunday, January 5. Playing on Day 3 of the final Test match in Sydney, India simply failed to contain the Australian batting line-up as the hosts chased down a target of 162 runs in just 27 overs.No Bumrah
No Bumrah, no joy: India surrender Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 7 years in Sydney

AUS vs IND, 5th Test Match: Full Scorecard

Jasprit Bumrah’s terrific tour of Australiacame to an anti-climactic endas the fast bowler was not able to take the field in India’s bowling innings on Day 3. The stand-in captain was forced out of action on the previous day due to back spasm and could not take even field in the final innings of the match.

In the absence of Bumrah, India bowled like headless chickens, spraying the ball everywhere. It was in stark contrast to how Scott Boland and Pat Cummins operated in the Test, especially on Day 3 morning to knock over the last four Indian wickets for just 16 runs.

India would have hoped for more fight with the bat from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, but it was not meant to be on a pitch that had excessive seam movement, unlike the Sydney Test.

Mohammed Siraj, who showed signs of returning to form on Day 2, started off with 5-wides in his first over. Youngster Prasidh Krishna followed suit in the very next over, adding to India’s misery.

No Bumrah, no joy: India surrender Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 7 years in Sydney

Australia accepted the New Year’s gift with open arms and got off to a rapid start – almost mimicking the powerplay in T20 cricket. Chasing 162 runs, Australia were 50/1 in 6 overs, which any team would have gleefully accepted even in T20 cricket, let alone Test.

The only pressure that India were able to realistically put was during a 3-over block by Prasidh Krishna, who was able to pick up wickets of Marnus Labuschange and Steve Smith just before Lunch.

Post Lunch, Australia once again came out looking to take the attack to India. Travis Head and Usman Khawaja deposited the Indian pacers for boundaries and took away hope of winning the Test match in no time.

There was a slight skip in India’s step after removing Khawaja for 41, but by that time the muted celebrations suggested that India had already accepted their fate in this series.

Khawaja’s departure did not deter Australia’s resolve. Debutant Beau Webster, who scored a fifty in the first innings, showed no signs of nerves at all and combined

INDIA DROP BGT AFTER 10 YEARS

Since India’s fateful tour of 2014/15, where then-captain MS Dhoni retired from Test cricket midway through the series, this was the first series that India lost against Australia. Under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane India had dominated the competition over the past 10 years, winning memorable series both home and away.No Bumrah

Kohli’s historic win in 2018/19 in Australia made the rivalry one of the most marketable bilateral series in the cricketing world. In Kohli’s temporary absence, India grew in stature by winning the 2020/21 series with a thrilling finish at the Gabba.

However, things turned out to be very very different in 2024/25 series as India not only failed to perform with the bat but also got drawn into multiple controversies, almost reminding fans of the terrible tour 10 years ago.

INDIAN BATTING UNIT BRINGS TEAM’S DOWNFALL

The main reason behind India’s series loss was their woeful batting performance. Out of the 10 innings that India batted in – 6 of them saw totals less than 200. Only 3 times India were able to break the barrier of 200 runs – once in their winning Test at Perth (487/6d), and one time each in Melbourne (369) and Brisbane (260).

This in turn put incredible pressure on the bowling unit, who simply did not get enough rest between their overs. Only twice in the series India batted more than 100 overs in a single innings. They mostly hovered between 35-78 overs, which resulted in two injuries to the Indian bowling line-up.

No Bumrah, no joy: India surrender Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 7 years in Sydney

While Akash Deep got ruled out from the final Test of the series, Bumrah’s body broke down in Sydney after bowling a record number of overs in the previous Test match in Melbourne.

FAULTY TEAM SELECTION

Australia’s team for this Test series was set from a long time back. This current unit under the leadership of Pat Cummins has played for a long time together. In fact, in the final Test of the series, this team did not have a single player in their 20s. Barring Sam Konstas who debuted at the age of 19, every player was over 30 years of age.In the series, Australia played just one player in their 20s – Nathan McSweeney who was 25 years of age.

The argument here is that the Australian team knew what they were doing and set up the conditions to their strengths – which was fast bowling. They left a lot of grass on the pitch, made the surfaces hard and let the natural degradation of the pitch do its thing throughout the course of the series.

While Australia played at least 4 fast bowlers + one spinner in every Test, India inexplicably played 2 spinners in the final two Test matches of the series.

The team could not settle into one line-up, playing three different spinners in the first three Test matches of the series, and then resorting to 3 pacers + two spinners + Nitish Reddy.

The team selection reflected in India’s performance on the field, as the pace of all fast bowlers consistently came down as the series progressed. Jasprit Bumrah, who is known for consistently bowling above 140 KMPH, dropped himself down to 125s, after simply failing to cope with the added workload.No Bumrah

BUMRAH’S LEGENDARY SERIES

At one point of the series, the Indian attack looked so toothless that it became a running joke on social media that the the bowling unit was Bumrah and nothing. Memes flooded the internet as Bumrah kept rescuing the bowling attack by picking up timely wickets. Bumrah was the saving grace for India’s batting unit as well, who kept getting out for below-par totals in all of the Test matches. If Bumrah would not have kept the Australian line-up in check, this series could have looked much uglier for India.

No Bumrah, no joy: India surrender Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 7 years in Sydney

Bumrah picked 32 wickets at an average of 13.06, which is not only other-wordly, but the best-ever by any Indian bowler against Australia in a Test series. Bumrah perhaps deserved a little better from the entire Indian unit, who simply failed to find the edge in the marquee tour.

RETIREMENTS, CONTROVERSIES, LEAKS

The signs of fraction in the Indian team presented themselves when Ravichandran Ashwin retired from the tour midway after the 3rd Test match in Brisbane. Ashwin’s father lashed out after his son returned home, stating thathis son had been humiliated enoughand could not take it anymore.

After India lost the Melbourne Test, their first in the last 3 tours, dressing room leaks took over the media, which reported of a Mr. Fixit, who had the ambition to become the interim captain of the Indian team, which is in its transitory phase. By this time, it was clear that Rohit Sharma was not going to play the Test match and either had stood down, or had been dropped from the side.

Sharma was quick to clarify the situation, in the most unprecedented manner. Rohit, not a part of the 5th Test gave a full interview to the Indian broadcaster on Day 2 and said that no one dropped him from the team, but that he had stepped down. Rohit added that this was a one-off, and he was not retiring from the format, contrary to the media reports.

The BGT 2024/25, would be remembered as one of the most dramatic series in the recent past. On-field controversies, off-field shenanigans, multiple crunch moments, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was truly one to remember.No BumrahRishabh Pant has taken the pants off Aussies’: India’s World-Cup winning legend doesn’t hesitate

No Bumrah, no joy: India surrender Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 7 years in Sydney

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