Border Gavaskar trophy is one of the most anticipated Test series going around at the moment simply because it’s played between two of the absolute powerhouses of world cricket – India and Australia.
The Border Gavaskar trophy of this year will have special significance as the top spot in the World Test Championship points table will also be on stake this time around.
Currently Australia is leading the World Test Championship points table, but a loss in the series might change the equation completely and India, which is at no. 2 at the moment, might displace the Kangaroos from the top.
But, while we are talking about Border Gavaskar of this year, let’s go back and have a look at the leading wicket takers of the Border Gavaskar trophy of 2018-19 –
1. Jasprit Bumrah (21 wickets)
Jasprit Bumrah was the joint highest wicket taker in the Border-Gavaskar trophy last time around as he grabbed 21 scalps and was one of the key reasons why India managed to win a Test series in Australia for the first time ever in their history.
2. Nathan Lyon (21 wickets)
Nathan Lyon was also right at the top of the pile in terms of getting the most no. of wickets in the series, but despite his consistent performance throughout the series, Australia ended on the wrong side of the stick.
Lyon was really effective on the wearing four and fifth day pitches, but India was so far ahead of the game most of the time that it was impossible for Lyon to bring Australia back into the equation despite being penetrative with the ball in the latter half of the games.
3. Mohammed Shami (16 wickets)
While Bumrah was the highest wicket taker for India in the series, Shami was not too far behind as he also registered as many as 16 wickets to his name.
Shami bowled with a lot of pace and fire and not only did he take advantage of the extra bounce on offer on Australian surfaces, he moved the ball both ways as well.
4. Pat Cummins (14 wickets)
Cummins didn’t move the ball a lot, but he was deadly accurate and kept nailing away the good length area at pace while slipping in an odd bumper in between.
Because of his pace and accuracy, Cummins posed a real challenge to the India batsmen right through the series.
5. Mitchell Starc (13 wickets)
Starc was not quite at his best in the Border Gavaskar trophy last time around, but he still chipped in with a few good spells. Because of his left arm angle and the ability to swing the ball back into the right-handers, Starc was expected to hurt the Indian batsmen a lot more than he did in that series.
6. Josh Hazlewood (13 wickets)
Hazlewood was someone who bowled long spells and managed to create a lot of pressure on the Indian batsmen which was his actual role. But, while trying to bowl with stability and create pressure, he finished with 13 scalps as well.
7. Ishant Sharma (11 wickets)
When we talk about India’s triumph in the Border Gavaskar trophy of 2018-19, a lot of credit for that goes to Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami and deservingly so as they were at their best for most parts of the series, but Ishant Sharma also bowled some really crucial spells and eventually finished at no. 3 in the list of the leading wicket takers for India in the series with a total of 11 wickets.
