Australia 3, Bumrah 1, India 0: How one man and rain helped visitors avoid 5-0 whitewash in BGT 2024-25

Australian batter Travis Head, when asked about Jasprit Bumrah's absence from Day 3 of the Sydney Test on Sunday, January 5, replied, "I think there were 15 people that were pleased that he has not been involved today." The statement pretty much sums up the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which Australia clinched 3-1 to register their first Test series triumph over India in a decade.

It was one man's genius against the entire Australian team that kept BGT 2024-25 alive until the last day of the series. Alas, the excessive workload that Bumrah had to carry right through the five Tests saw his body finally giving in. The standout player of the series could not bowl in the second innings in Sydney on the spiciest of all surfaces on offer during the five games.

There is no guarantee that India would have won at the SCG defending a target of 162 had Bumrah been available to bowl. But, it goes without saying that the chase would have been a lot trickier for Australia in such a scenario. Usman Khawaja looked a lot more at ease in the second innings and that was again due to Bumrah's absence. His fluent 41 off 45 set up the chase for the hosts.

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3-1 result not surprising, could have been worse but for Jasprit Bumrah's magic

If we cast our mind back to the start of the series, a number of experts predicted a 5-0 loss for India in the wake of their shocking 3-0 defeat at home to New Zealand. The visiting side was undoubtedly low on confidence and another hammering seemed on the cards. Bumrah's brilliance, though, ensured India did not end up with zero against their name in the scoreline.

Leading the side in Rohit Sharma's absence in the opening Test in Perth, he came up with a sensational bowling effort to lift India to a morale-boosting win. When India were bowled out for 150 in their first innings, it seemed like a continuation of batting collapses from the series against New Zealand. It indeed was, but Bumrah managed to break the chain of defeats with his brilliance in Perth.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli did slam hundreds in the second innings in Perth, but that was only possible because Bumrah brought India back into the contest. Take away those two tons and one from Nitish Reddy in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and there was precious little for India's batters to be proud of.

As for the bowling, barring brief spells of brilliance from Mohammed Siraj, there was nothing much on offer across the five Tests in terms of support for Bumrah. Harshit Rana started well only to fade away as quickly. Akash Deep looked threatening but failed to produce the wicket-taking deliveries. Prasidh Krishna impressed in Sydney, but it was a case of too little too late.

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A collective failure that was on the cards

As with any defeat, Indian fans are hugely disappointed with the loss to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But, it would be fair to say that one could see this coming. How Rohit and co. were hammered at home by Kiwis was a clear indication of things in store.

With all due respect to New Zealand, they did not come to India with an exceptional team. It was more a case of India losing the series than the Kiwis winning it. England's 2-1 Test series triumph in New Zealand raised further questions about India's performance against the Kiwis at home on pitches that were undoubtedly prepared to assist the Indian team.

India did not have a magic wand to try and turn things around Down Under. The visitors did try to turn Bumrah into one, but his overutilization meant the pacer could not cast his spell at the very end. They backed Rohit and Kohli more on hope than anything else, but as Morgan Freeman said in the iconic movie 'The Shawshank Redemption' - hope is a dangerous thing. And so it proved to be.

The two veteran batters of Indian cricket looked completely out of sorts during the three-match series at home against New Zealand. Nothing changed throughout the Test series in Australia. If anything, things only got worse. As a result, skipper Rohit opted out of the last Test, while Kohli continued flirting with danger outside the off stump and kept walking back in frustration.

If we look at India's bowling performance, Bumrah ended with magnificent numbers (32 wickets at an average of 13.06). Siraj finished with a decent haul of 20 wickets, but his scalps came at an average of 31.15. In contrast, Australia captain Pat Cummins claimed 25 wickets at 21.36 and Scott Boland 21 at 13.19.

In a Test series where batting line-ups of both sides floundered, it was the bowling that made the big difference. While Bumrah was the lone warrior for India, the Aussies hunted as a pack and kept pulling India back. But for Bumrah's brilliance and rain in Brisbane, Rohit and co. might well have been staring at a 5-0 scoreline at the conclusion of BGT 2024-25.

[PS: ‘I only believe in Jassi bhai because game changer player he is only one…’ was a funny meme at the start of BGT 2024-25. By the end of the series, it defined the harsh reality of the Indian team.]