Dubai [UAE], February 23 : Star India batter Jasprit Bumrah reached Dubai ahead of the high-octane India versus Pakistan clash and collected his prestigious International Cricket Council (ICC) awards at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
The official handle of ICC posted a picture of Bumrah posing with all his awards and caps won at the ICC Awards 2024. These are: ICC Men's Cricketer Of The Year, ICC Men's Test Cricketer Of The Year, ICC Men's Test Team Of The Year, ICC Men's T20I Team Of The Year.
https://x.com/ICC/status/1893584621713195218
Meanwhile, Bumrah is missing the ongoing Champions Trophy due to a back injury sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at Sydney earlier in January. Harshit Rana is his replacement in the tournament.
Bumrah had a memorable 2024, one of the greatest years for a bowler.
Mohammed Siraj's post-match interview after T20 WC final saying 'I only believe on Jassi bhai, game changer player he is' in his broken English summarises the country's love affair with the pace spearhead and how important he was to their fortunes.
Be it his 19 wickets during England's home series on largely unhelpful surfaces at an average of 16.89 in four matches, his 'Player of the Tournament' winning T20 WC title-capturing performance with 15 crucial scalps at an average of 8.26 or his workhorse, once-in-a-generation run in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Bumrah emerged as country's newest and rightfully deserving cricketing darling, having captured the minds and hearts of a batting-obsessed nation and making fast bowling, yorkers and swing, cool among masses.
Bumrah was the leading-wicket-taker in international cricket last year, with 86 wickets in 21 matches at an average of 13.76, with four four-wicket hauls and five five-wicket hauls and best figures of 6/45. Particularly in Tests, the Indian pace spearhead enjoyed one of the greatest calendar years by a bowler, with 71 scalps in 13 matches at an average of 14.92, with five five-wicket hauls and best figures of 6/45, delivering fantastic spells home and away alike.
Also in a disappointing IPL 2024 for five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI), he topped the charts with 20 scalps in 13 matches at an average of 16.80 and one fifer.
The star Indian pace spearhead was a nightmare for Aussies to face during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy concluded recently. The 3-1 scoreline in favour of Australia, who won the trophy for the first time since 2014 and avoided a hat-trick of series losses to India at home, does not truly show how much fight Bumrah single-handedly put for India.
He got 32 wickets in five matches at a stunning average of 13.06, with three five-wicket hauls and best figures of 6/76. He was the highest wicket-taker in the series and broke record after record in the five-match affair, becoming the Indian with the most Test fifers in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and South Africa) and outdoing spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi to have most wickets by an Indian in an away series.
These performances earned him plenty of awards and honours, including the ICC Men's Test Player of the Year award, the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year award, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Best International Men's Cricketer of the Year award.
Coming to the IND-PAK clash, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first.
Teams:
-India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav
-Pakistan (Playing XI): Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.