Starc replaces Bumrah as No.1 Test bowler, takes top spot for first time in 15-year career

Star India pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s stay at the top of the ICC Test rankings for bowlers has come to an end as he was replaced by 36-year-old Australia spearhead Mitchell Starc on Wednesday. Remarkably, this is the first time in Starc’s 15-year Test career that he has taken the top spot in the ICC rankings.
Starc’s rise to the top came after a scintillating performance in Australia’s innings victory against Bangladesh in Mackay in the 2nd Test between the two sides. The pacer took 10 wickets in the match, five of which came in the first four overs itself, as Australia won by an innings and 15 runs. He was ranked third at the start of the Test and jumped past Bumrah and New Zealand’s Matt Henry to take the top spot.
Bumrah drops to second and Henry to third. Starc’s teammate and Australia captain Pat Cummins, meanwhile, has risen to fourth after he took six wickets in the match. Starc has been inside the top 10 of the ICC Test rankings for a majority of his illustrious 15-year career. However, it is only at the age of 36 that he has risen right to the top spot.
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Bumrah, meanwhile, was forced to sit out of India’s ongoing two-Test series against Sri Lanka. The 32-year-old picked up a knee injury during the second ODI against England last month was far from attaining full fitness just over a week before the first Test in Galle which started on August 15.
When the BCCI released the squad for the two-match Test series, Bumrah’s inclusion was subject to him clearing fitness test. With a nearly four-week break before the first Test, India were hoping that Bumrah would regain full fitness by then and were keen to take him on board even if is unlikely to feature in the warm-up fixture. However, during the rehab process, Bumrah is understood to have felt discomfort in his knee and as a result his comeback is expected to take time.




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