Jasprit Bumrah is currently placed at the top of the ICC men's Test Rankings for bowlers. In the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy series between India and Australia, Jasprit Bumrah was named the Player of the Series for taking 32 wickets in five games.
In the process, Bumrah also reached the 200-wicket milestone in Tests, and is on his way to becoming the greatest fast bowler India has ever produced.
Speaking of the best fast bowlers emerging from India, Kapil Dev is among the top names. While Dev played 131 Tests for India, Jasprit Bumrah has only played 45 so far. So in this article now, we will compare the bowling stats of Dev and Bumrah after 45 Tests to determine who has the better numbers.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah vs Kapil Dev - Who has more wickets after 45 Test matches?
Kapil Dev played his 45th Test match for India against Pakistan in 1983. He bowled a magnificent spell of 7/220, which took his tally of wickets to 179 after 45 matches in the longest format of the game.
On the other side, Bumrah has scalped 205 wickets in 45 Tests already. The Indian fast bowler made his Test debut against South Africa in 2018, and he already has 13 five-wicket hauls to his name.
Bumrah has 26 wickets more than Kapil Dev in Test cricket after 45 appearances. Hence, Bumrah gets the point here.
Score: Bumrah 1 - 0 Kapil Dev.
#2 Jasprit Bumrah vs Kapil Dev - Who has better bowling average after 45 Test matches?
The bowling average matters a lot in Test matches. If a bowler can take more wickets while conceding fewer runs, he becomes an asset for the team. For instance, if a bowler takes three wickets but gives away 300 runs in an innings, it does not have much of an impact.
The batters have found it challenging to score big against Bumrah across all formats. He averages 19.4 after 45 Tests for India. Meanwhile, Kapil Dev's bowling average was 29.75 after his 45th Test in 1983. Bumrah gets the point here as well.
Score: Bumrah 2 - 0 Kapil Dev.
#3 Jasprit Bumrah vs Kapil Dev - Who has better strike rate after 45 Test matches?
Bowling strike-rate shows how many balls a bowler generally takes to pick up a wicket. Bumrah has an impressive strike rate of 42.1 after 45 Test appearances. It means the Indian pacer takes a wicket after almost every seven overs.
On the other side, Kapil Dev had a bowling strike rate of 56.45 after playing 45 Test matches for India. Once again, Bumrah's numbers are much better than Kapil. Thus, the clear winner of this comparison is Bumrah.
Final score: Bumrah 3 - 0 Kapil Dev.
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