Adam Gilchrist Says Jasprit Bumrah's Bowling Would Have Challenged Don Bradman’s 99.94 Test Average

Former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist has praised India’s fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, saying that even the legendary cricketer Sir Don Bradman would have struggled against him. Bumrah caught the attention of the cricket world with his outstanding performances in 2024. He played a key role in India’s T20 World Cup victory and also made a big impact with his deadly bowling in Test cricket.

Gilchrist recognized Bumrah and mentioned how even Bradman with his extremely impressive batting average of 99.94, might have struggled against Bumrah's bowling. Bumrah was named Player of the Series in a test series against Australia, and also Bumrah was the top wicket-taker by taking 32 wickets in the five-match test series.

Most Wickets in India vs Australia Test Series

“I’m not putting a number on him because no rating can do justice to what he is in world sport. He would have made life difficult for Bradman in no time. Bradman’s average would have been much lower than 99,” Gilchrist said on the Club Prairie Fire podcast.

Bumrah started the BGT 2024-25 series with an amazing performance in Perth, getting the Player of the Match award, and helping India to win by a huge margin of 295 runs, he took 8/72 in that first test match. After that, he really made it difficult for the Australian batsmen, by taking nine wickets in both Brisbane (9/94) and Melbourne (9/156).

Bumrah’s brilliant performances have helped him climb to the top of the ICC Test rankings for bowlers, where he now holds the highest-ever rating by an Indian bowler 908 rating points.

ICC Test rankings for bowlers

Bumrah suffered an injury during the fifth Test in Sydney, which forced him to stop bowling from the second day onwards, and also India lost the final test and series by 1-3. This injury has raised doubts about his availability for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Because of his injury, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told Bumrah to go to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to recover from his injury.

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