Jasprit Bumrah has etched his name into the history books on his ODI return during the first match of the series against England on Tuesday, July 14. Bumrah made a comeback to the Indian side for the first time since the ODI World Cup 2023, 968 days after the final against Australia in November 2023. Meanwhile, Bumrah was back in business when he removed English captain Harry Brook as India were asked to bowl first.
Bumrah remained wicketless in the first spell of four overs that he sent down but struck as early as on the first ball of his second spell that came after the powerplay. The hosts had lost their new opening pair of Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell in an over to Gurnoor Brar in the 13th over after a strong start. Bumrah compounded England’s troubles when he came and got Brook caught by Rohit Sharma at first slip. The wicket marked a couple of milestones for Bumrah. This was his 31st ODI wicket in England, which is now the most by an Indian bowler in England in the format.ย He was previously tied with Ravindra Jadeja for 30 scalps on English soil in ODIs but raised past the all-rounder, who was not picked for the ODIs against the Three Lions.ย
Most ODI wickets for India in England:
31 J Bumrah
30 R Jadeja
28 Bhuvneshwar
27 Madan Lal
26 Mohd Shami
Bumrah completes 150 ODI wickets
The Brook wicket was the 150th one for Bumrah in ODI cricket as he joins a long list of Indians to have completed 150 scalps in the format, which is headed by Anil Kumble with 334 scalps. Bumrah has become the third quickest Indian to complete 150 wickets in the format (in terms of balls). He got there in 4605 balls and is only behind Mohammed Shami (4070) and Kuldeep Yadav (4513).
Fewest balls to 150 ODI wickets (India):
4070 Mohd Shami
4513 Kuldeep Yadav
4605 Jasprit Bumrah
5027 Ajit Agarkar
5131 Irfan Pathan
India asked to bowl first
England captain Harry Brook won the toss and opted to bat first as India were put in to bowl first. “We’re gonna have a bat today. Looks like a good surface, don’t quite know what’s gonna happen, but we fancy our chances with the bat first. Hopefully, we can get a little bit of spin in the second innings,” England skipper Brook said at the toss.
Meanwhile, India skipper Shubman Gill also confirmed that he wanted to bowl first anyway. “Actually, we’re looking to bowl first. [On India’s preparation after the T20Is] Well, I think most of the boys have been playing the T20s and the rest of the boys we got a bit of rest, I had a bit of training. Got here a couple of days before, so we were practicing. So the environment, the vibe has been really good,” he said at the toss.
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