Picture Credit: X
Team India succumbed to a 1-3 defeat against Australia in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. Coming into the fifth and final Test in Sydney, trailing the series 1-2, Australia got the better of Indian cricket team to hand them a six-wicket defeat inside three days and reclaim the BGT title for the first time since 2014-15.
For India, there were a few bright spots including Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Indian spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was simply a class apart, picking 32 wickets in the five Tests. His brilliance with the ball not only earned him accolades from all corners of the world, former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh also opined that India would have suffered a whitewash if Bumrah wasn’t there for them.
Jassi saved India: Harbhajan Singh
Speaking on his YouTube channel after India’s 1-3 series defeat, former India off-spinner exclaimed, "If Jasprit Bumrah wasn't in this tour, the series would have ended 5-0. Jassi saved India in Perth. After Adelaide, he saved India in the rest of the matches.” “If he wasn't in the series, India would have lost by either 5-0 or 4-0," Bhajji further added.
Notably, Jasprit Bumrah won the Player of the Series award after his record-breaking 32 wickets, which is most by an Indian on Australian soil. He began the series with a Player of the Match performance in Perth, finishing with match figures of 8/72. He then went onto to pick nine wickets each in Brisbane (9/94) and Melboune (9/156) to give a tough time to the Australia batters. At the end, he finished as the highest wicket-taker across five Test, surpassing Bishan Singh Bedi’s tally of 31 wickets from 1977-78.
