Australia’s tail defies India after Bumrah fireworks to ensure thrilling MCG finish | cricket

It’s not like this series isn’t already about Jasprit Bumrah. From the very first evening of the first Test, when he destroyed Australia’s lead in the fading light of Perth, he has been both the threat and the act of redemption. Eight wickets there, nine in Brisbane, still a chance of nine in Melbourne, even four in Adelaide when his team’s batting errors effectively restricted him to one bowling innings.

But watching a sequence of the best at their best doesn’t make the wonders any less great. Bumrah’s fourth day in Melbourne, where he took charge of India’s Test match for a few hours seemingly out of nowhere, was that he saw someone at his best. Maybe that’s what it felt like watching Brian Lara bat in 1994.

It is impossible to talk about Bumrah without once again marveling at his actions. He approaches the wicket at a walking pace, arms moving stiffly up and down like a man drowning kittens in a bucket, and explodes into a biomechanical wonder. Bones turn to liquid as he launches a ball with unimaginable speed and power.

Then comes the result: a ball that hits the seam so hard that it can swing in either direction. Whether he knows it or not, no one else knows. During his first three of what absurdly became nine overs on the day, it felt as if the fact that he had just one wicket should be relegated to The Hague. He was too good for other players and too good for himself, hitting the rim like a repeat.

The wicket he took was stunning. Sam Konstas might as well have not been there after his jumps and chatter in the first inning. There was no scoop shot like it as it ricocheted like an off-break from outside the leg stump, so violently that it took the leg stump with it. Konstas did the right thing with a forward defense that would have covered any normal movement inside. Bumrah is not normal.

One went to Marnus Labuschagne, in the next over he hit four of six balls over the edge, in one moment he threatened the bat’s shoulder, in another he hit the batsman in the crotch. Next he almost had Labuschagne lbw, who was kept in the replay by the referee’s call. After Mohammed Siraj created an opening with two wickets, Bumrah came back to get Travis Head after successive tons, Mitchell Marsh managed the same over with a terrible steeler that grazed the bat shoulder and then bowled the in-form Alex Carey in the next over with a more subtle left-handed version of the Konstas ball.

The experience was electrifying, the MCG rocked with noise as Carey’s bails were scattered. The Test’s smallest crowd was still over 40,000. Australia were suddenly in danger, six players behind and 196 in front. Such was the moment that Labuschagne declined singles to protect a No. 8 batsman who had made 49 in the first innings. Such was Bumrah’s momentum that Labuschagne and Pat Cummins could not allow him to continue.

With the application they survived. Mostly in short bursts, Bumrah bowled nine spells a day but was unable to bowl all the overs himself. Carey was his fourth wicket, but the fifth failed to materialize, first in a long stanza against Labuschagne, then against the last pair when the storm had subsided. Where the specialists had struggled, Scott Boland calmly set up the middle of his defense at number 11, while Nathan Lyon’s runs troubled India. Returning for the final over of the day, the exhausted Bumrah started with a full toss before an overstep denied him the fifth wicket.

In bowling, playing through entire teams almost never works. Most of it is effort, rarely reward. The luxury of hindsight allows us to airbrush the Interregna, linking great days together like a victory centipede. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are considered destroyers but remained wicketless in 46 Test innings between them. Even the best fight the tyranny of probability.

But here we are. Australia’s lead was 333, meaning India’s chances of a win are slim. But the tourists’ chances were absolutely nil before Bumrah started his killing spree. During this period he became the first bowler to take 200 Test wickets at an average of under 20. In this series alone he has 29 wickets at 12.75. Only 13 visiting bowlers have taken more on a tour of Australia, and 12 of them played a fifth or sixth Test compared to Bumrah’s four.

He will play a fifth game in Sydney unless his arm falls off due to overuse. Five wickets there would take him to second place on this list. A 10-wicket match – the only bowling performance that has eluded him so far – would take him to the top. That’s a lot to ask of a player, but India have asked for it time and time again in this series. Even though others have not followed suit, Bumrah has continued to perform well so far.