Social media went into overdrive as Jasprit Bumrah became the second Team India bowler after Javagal Srinath to pick three five-wicket hauls in South Africa on Thursday.

 

Jasprit Bumrah's mega feat came during India's maiden victory at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Day 2 of the second Test against South Africa, where he led the pack for the Rohit Sharma-led side, finishing with 6/61 in the second innings to power the visitors to a comprehensive seven-wicket triumph.

 

With his ninth fifer in Test cricket, Jasprit Bumrah matched Javagal Srinath, who took five wickets thrice in an innings in South Africa during his illustrious career from 1991 to 2003.

 

Also, his six scalps against South Africa moved the Ahmedabad-born bowler to the third spot in the list of bowlers from India with the most wickets in red-call cricket against South Africa.

 

The tally of Jasprit Bumrah's wickets against the Proteas now reads 38. Only two Indian bowlers have more wickets than him against South Africa – Anil Kumble (45) and Javagal Srinath (43). Mohammed Shami (35) and Zaheer Khan (30) occupy the fourth and fifth places in the elite list.

 

Jasprit Bumrah's brilliant bowling display in the second Test between India and South Africa took him past Shane Warne in the list of visiting bowlers with the most wickets in Cape Town.

 

With his six wickets at Newlands, Jasprit Bumrah's tally surged to 18 in Cape Town, while Shane Warne has 17 wickets to his name at the picturesque ground.

 

England's Colin Blythe tops the charts in this category, having grabbed 25 wickets in Cape Town in four Test matches from 1906 to 1910.  

 

Most Test wickets by visiting bowlers at Cape Town

25 – Colin Blythe (Eng) [1906-1910] in 4 Tests (SR 43)

17- Jasprit Bumrah (Ind) [2018-2024] in 3 Tests (SR 16)

17 – Shane Warne (Aus) [1994-2006] in 3 Tests (SR 72)

 

Additionally, Jasprit Bumrah put himself on an even keel with Zaheer Khan and Bhagwath Subramanya Chandrasekhar in the club of Indians with the second most five-wicket hauls in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) in the Whites.

 

The three are only behind the legendary Kapil Dev, who tops the list with seven fifers to his name in SENA nations.

 

Most Five Wicket Hauls by Indians in SENA Nations in Tests (Innings) 

7 – Kapil Dev (62)

6 – Jasprit Bumrah (50)*

6 – Bhagwath Chandrasekar (32)

6 – Zaheer Khan (53)

 

Following his historic display at the Newlands Stadium, a delighted Jasprit Bumrah acknowledged that he enjoyed bowling on the track.

“Happy and a special venue to play here and do well. I kept it simple and got my rewards in the end. The journey started here in 2018, always have fond memories. Very happy it went well today. Our bowling unit was experienced and we wanted to make an impact. I didn't expect the game to go this fast,” Jasprit Bumrah said in the post-match presentation ceremony. 

 

“We are happy that we could sustain it in this series and got the win in the end. Yes, this was the shortest Test that I have ever played in my life. This was rapid and was too quick to my liking as well. Even we would have batted first had we won the toss and in the end, we got the result we wanted,” the Team India pace spearhead added. 

Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sharma credited Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah's bowling performances for India's win in the second Test in Cape Town.

 

There's little doubt that the Hyderabad-born pacer spearheaded South Africa's stunning batting collapse as the home side got bowled out for 55 – their lowest total in the five-day format since their re-admission into international cricket following the apartheid ban in 1991.

 

It is also the lowest total in a Test innings against India. Before the Mohammed Siraj-led destruction of South Africa, New Zealand held the record for the lowest total against India. The Kiwis were bundled out for 62 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai during a Test match in 2021.

 

Mohammed Siraj's splendid nine-over spell, which resulted in a six-wicket haul, made him the second Indian bowler after Maninder Singh to pick five wickets before lunch on the opening day of a Test match.

 

Left-arm spin bowler Maninder Singh accomplished the milestone in a Test against Pakistan in Bengaluru in 1987.

 

Also, Mohammed Siraj became the first Indian bowler to take a fifer in a single Test session since 2011. Moreover, he joined his national teammate Jasprit Bumrah as the only other bowler to grab six wickets during a single session of a Test match since 2016.

 

The 29-year-old is only the fifth quick bowler to pick six wickets in a session of Test cricket. The others are Trent Boult, Vernon Philander, Chris Woakes, and Jasprit Bumrah.

 

“A great feat. In Centurion, we had to learn from our mistakes. We came back very well, especially our bowlers. Had some plans and the boys got rewarded. We applied ourselves, we batted well to get a 100-run lead, not pleasing to see the last six wickets. We knew that it's going to be a short game, we knew every run matters, to get that lead was very important,” Rohit Sharma stated.

 

“Very special, something you don't get to see very often. We spoke about keeping things simple and that's what happened. The pitch did the rest. Lot of credit to Siraj, Bumrah, Mukesh and Prasidh,” the India skipper elaborated.

 

“Whenever you come here, it's challenging. We have played a lot of good cricket outside India, we take a lot of pride. We would have loved to win the series. South Africa is a great team, they always challenge us, they are such a good team. We can take a lot of pride from this performance. Dean Elgar is such an important player for SA, very gritty, we appreciate that. I'd like to wish him the best. Brilliant career, best wishes ahead,” Rohit Sharma mentioned.

 

Besides Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Irfan Pathan, and Wasim Jaffer hailed Jasprit Bumrah.

“Congratulations to Team India for levelling the series! Markram’s approach was fantastic because sometimes attack is the best form of defence on a pitch like this. Well bowled by Bumrah, who showed us exactly, how bowling in the channel consistently is all that's required on such type of wickets,” Sachin Tendulkar wrote on ‘X'.

 

“Bumrah wasnt' gonna stay behind in his wicket tally. Leader of pack for a reason. Brilliant 5fier,” Irfan Pathan posted on Twitter.

 

“SENApati ki Jai Ho! Well bowled Jasprit Bumrah. Congratulations on yet another fifer,” Wasim Jaffer noted.