Ranking the 5 best bowling performances by an Indian in a Test series in Australia ft. Jasprit Bumrah

Australia hasn't always been a happy hunting ground for Team India in Test cricket over the years. Despite several attempts to break through right from the 1947/48 tour, India could never manage an elusive Test series win down under.

Quite often, it was the lack of consistency in batting and bowling that spelt doom for the Indians until they finally won back-to-back series in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21. However, the Aussies regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 3-1 win at home in the recently-concluded five-match series.

Irrespective of the result, Team India have seen several of its bowlers produce memorable performances in a series in Australia. They often remind the batter-loving Indian fans that the bowlers deserve equal praise and adulation.

As another India's Test tour of Australia entered the history books, we look back on the five best bowling performances by an India bowler in a series down under.

#5 Erapalli Prasanna - 25 wickets in 1967/68

Australia has undoubtedly been among the hardest places for spinners, especially off-spinners, to prosper. Even legendary off-spinners like Muttiah Muralitharan and Ravichandran Ashwin have found the going difficult on the pacer-friendly pitches down under.

Yet, former Indian off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna displayed all his bags of tricks in the 1967/68 tour of Australia.

After picking four wickets in the first Test in Adelaide, Prasanna produced back-to-back six-wicket hauls in the first innings of the Melbourne and Brisbane Tests. He finished the tour with seven wickets in the Sydney Test.

Prasanna's final numbers read 25 wickets at a stunning average of 27.44 with two five-wicket hauls in four Tests. The champion spinner would have been even higher on the list but for India suffering a 0-4 series whitewash.

#4 Anil Kumble - 24 wickets in 2003/04

The Australian side in the early 2000s were arguably the most dominant in the sport's long and rich history. With world-class batters coming in one after the other, the Aussie juggernaut was always going to be hard to stop for the Indian bowlers in the 2003/04 tour down under.

Yet, India's all-time leading wicket-taker, Anil Kumble, had other ideas. The former leg-spinner stifled the Australian batters with remarkable consistency and relentless spells to finish with 24 wickets at an average of 29.58 in the three Tests he played.

Kumble missed the series opener in Brisbane but returned in the second Test at Adelaide. He picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings and finished with six in the match as India pulled off a memorable four-wicket win.

Kumble followed his Adelaide heroics with a six-wicket haul in the first innings of the crucial third Test at Melbourne. However, his best was still to come as the Karnataka spinner single-handedly willed India into a winning position in the final Test at Sydney with the series tied at 1-1.

Kumble picked up 12 wickets in the contest, including eight in the first innings as India pushed the champion Australian side to the brink before the game and ultimately ended in a draw.

#3 Jasprit Bumrah - 21 wickets in 2018/19

Australia v India - 3rd Test: Day 4 - Source: Getty

A first Australian Test tour usually fills a visiting player with intimidation but in the case of Jasprit Bumrah, it was one of revelation. Having debuted for India in the red-ball format only 11 months before the 2018/19 Australian tour, Bumrah was already the spearhead of their bowling attack.

And the champion pacer did not disappoint, finishing with 21 wickets in four matches at an incredible average of 17. More than the numbers, Bumrah's impact was felt by the Aussie batters throughout the series as he was at his penetrative best in all four games.

His three wickets in each innings helped India win the series opener in Adelaide and he followed that up with another five scalps in the Perth outing. However, Bumrah's standout moment of the series came in the Melbourne Test with the series tied at 1-1.

The 31-year-old stunned the Aussies with a first-innings performance of 6/33 to help India march ahead. Bumrah bagged another three wickets in the second innings to help India capture an unassailable 2-1 lead.

Despite only a lone wicket in the rain-marred drawn encounter at Sydney, Bumrah's heroics ensured India won their first-ever Test series in Australia.

#2 Bishan Singh Bedi - 31 wickets in 1977/78

After 0-4 drubbings in their first two tours of Australia, Team India were massive underdogs entering the 1977/78 Test series down under. Despite most predicting a one-sided series and a convincing Australian win, former left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi had other ideas.

Bedi gave the hosts a massive scare in the first two Tests with five-wicket hauls in three out of the four innings. Yet, Australia barely survived both Tests and won by 16 runs and two wickets, respectively.

Finally, it was third time lucky for Bedi and India as the champion spinner starred again with six wickets in the team's first-ever Test victory on Australian soil in the third Test at Melbourne.

Another five-wicket outing at Sydney helped India level the five-match series at 2-2 and the improbable seemed very likely, thanks to one man's magic.

However, even with Bedi's brilliant four-wicket haul in the second innings of the deciding Test at Sydney, Australia survived and won by 47 runs to escape a home series defeat.

Bedi's 31 wickets remain the second-highest by an Indian bowler and the highest by an Indian spinner in a Test series in Australia. He averaged under 24 with two 4-wicket and three five-wicket hauls over the five Tests.

#1 Jasprit Bumrah - 32 wickets in 2024/25

Australia v India - Men's 1st Test Match: Day 4 - Source: Getty

How can anyone forget what they witnessed from Jasprit Bumrah in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy down under? Carrying the Indian attack on his shoulders, Bumrah capped off one of the most memorable 12-month bowling stints with his stellar performances in Australia.

The 31-year-old wasted no time in toying with the Aussie batters, picking up eight wickets in India's 295-run win in the series opener at Perth. While the team struggled in the next two outings, Bumrah was at his dominating best with 13 wickets across three completed innings.

The World's best Test bowler then rose to the occasion in the crucial Boxing Day Test, with the series tied at 1-1. Bumrah picked up nine wickets across the two innings that included a memorable three-wicket burst in the second innings to leave the hosts in disarray.

However, lack of support from the other end meant Australia survived Bumrah's onslaught and took a 2-1 series lead. The excessive workload finally took a toll on the Indian spearhead as he bowled only 10 overs in the series finale at Sydney and picked up two wickets as India lost a hard-fought series 1-3.

Bumrah's final series tally of 32 wickets is the highest by an Indian bowler in a Test series Down Under. He was seven clear of the next best Pat Cummins and averaged an extraordinary 13.06 with three five-wicket and two four-wicket hauls in what many former players and fans called the greatest bowling stretch in Test cricket history.