Jasprit Bumrah, remember the name!

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The ace Indian quick has been on a rampage Down Under since day one of this tour, picking 29 wickets in four contested matches thus far. On day four of the ongoing Boxing Day Test at the iconic MCG, Bumrah triggered Australia’s collapse after lunch, picking three wickets in two overs, including bagging his 200th Test wicket in Travis Head on just one.

He first removed opener Sam Konstas, bowled on eight before making merry in the first over his second spell, picking up dangerous Head and under-firing Mitchell Marsh. 

While Head’s wicket, caught on the square leg on one, was his 200th Test scalp - becoming the fourth quickest to reach the milestone regarding balls bowled (8484), Marsh’s dismissal was a testament to his status as perhaps the best bowler of his time.

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Those two wickets also saw him becoming the fastest Indian to 200 wickets in this format, besides doing it with the best bowling average of all time (19.56). However, Bumrah didn’t stop there, removing keeper-batter Alex Carey next (on two) in his following over to reduce Australia to 91 for six in their second innings.

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Also Read: BGT - Social media in awe of Jasprit Bumrah’s Test milestone at MCG

India on top at the ‘G’

India began day four on 358 for nine, with centurion Nitish Kumar Reddy and Mohammed Siraj at the crease. The visitors could add 11 runs to their overnight tally before veteran spinner Nathan Lyon accounted for Reddy on 114, wrapping up India’s innings on 369. 

With the 105-run lead, Australia hoped to make the most of it but knew weathering the Bumrah storm would be their toughest challenge, and it unfolded that way.

Unlike how the debutant Konstas reverse ramped Bumrah for fours and a six in the first innings, he failed to replicate the same in the second. Looking clueless against the best seamer in world cricket, Konstas fell prey to Bumrah’s seed in the seventh over, with the Indian quick tearing through his middle stump.

Usman Khawaja stood his ground for good ten overs before Siraj’s incoming delivery got the better of him, dismissing him for 21. Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith played through lunch, with India winning the session hands down.

In the second session, Siraj gave India a massive breakthrough in Smith, picking his second of the day. That wicket, however, was the turning point of the Australian innings, with them losing three quick wickets soon after, denting their momentum.