India’s fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been nominated for the 2024 ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award. Alongside him, Sri Lanka all-rounder Kamindu Mendis and England batting duo Joe Root and Harry Brook have also been nominated for this prestigious honour.
Having returned to the Test arena in 2022 during the series against South Africa after a back surgery kept him out, Bumrah dominated the bowling charts in the longer format in 2024 by picking up 71 wickets in 13 Tests, the most scalps taken by a bowler this year.
Bumrah’s 71 scalps in 2024 are also the fifth most wickets taken by an Indian bowler in a Test calendar year, with the list being led by Kapil Dev, who picked up 75 wickets in 18 matches in 1983. Be it in South Africa and Australia, or conditions back home, Bumrah has been consistently impressive.
In the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Bumrah finished as the leading wicket-taker with 30 wickets at an average of 12.83. He also completed 200 Test wickets in Australia, becoming the fastest Indian pacer to achieve this feat.
Apart from his six-wicket haul against England at Visakhapatnam, Bumrah’s most memorable Test performance came as captain when he guided India to a mammoth 295-run win in Perth. After India was dismissed for just 150 in the first innings, Bumrah wrested back control of the match with a five-wicket haul that bowled Australia out for 104.
With Australia chasing 534 in the fourth innings, Bumrah picked up three wickets to secure a memorable victory for India. That performance won Bumrah the Player of the Match award and propelled him back to the top of the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings.
Root, England’s premier batter, accumulated 1556 runs from 17 Tests at an average of 55.57, his second-best annual run tally in Tests after amassing 1708 runs in 2021. It was also the fifth instance of Root scoring over 1000 Test runs in a calendar year.
With six Test hundreds alongside five fifties, Root’s impressive run saw him become the joint-fifth highest century maker in Tests (36) alongside Rahul Dravid. In addition to his batting feats, Root impressed with a four-wicket haul in the Test series against India.
His teammate Brook scored 1100 runs in 12 Tests at an average of 55, comprising three fifties and four centuries, including a maiden triple century in Pakistan, establishing himself as England’s breakthrough batter in the format.
Mendis, meanwhile, earns a nomination after scoring 1049 runs from nine Tests at an average of 74.92. Mendis also became the joint-third quickest to score 1000 Test runs, equalling Sir Don Bradman’s 13-innings mark to reach the milestone. He also scored twin hundreds in Sri Lanka’s 2-0 series sweep over New Zealand at home.
(Inputs from IANS)
