Jasprit Bumrah shares cryptic Instagram story after attaining number one rank

Star India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah etched his name in history books as he became the first Indian pacer to become the world’s number one Test bowler in ICC’s latest Test rankings on Wednesday, February 07. The speedster climbed three spots following his match-winning nine-wicket haul against England in Visakhapatnam and dethroned his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin from the top spot.

The right-arm speedster became the fourth bowler to achieve the feat from India after Bishan Singh Bedi, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja. Following Bumrah’s historic feat, the entire cricketing fraternity congratulated the fast bowler as he reached the top spot in the longest format for the first time in his career. However, the 30-year-old had a rather shocking take on his ascent to the bowling rankings as he shared a cryptic story on his Instagram handle.

Bumrah shared an image showing two contrasting sides of the world where the first half showed empty seats signifying the support he had during his bad phase while the second half was full of people celebrating his remarkable feat.

Notably, Ahmedabad-born cricketer made his comeback in the Indian team on 18th August 2023 after missing almost 11 months of cricketing action. Bumrah suffered a stress fracture ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022 and hence missed playing in the mega event. He also wasn’t available in the Asia Cup 2022 and World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final as India ended up losing all three tournaments.

During his time away from the team, Bumrah was subjected to heavy trolling on social media as fans began questioning his commitment to international cricket. However, ever since his return, the speedster has shut the mouth of his critics in style with stupendous performances in all three formats.

Bumrah registered second-best career figures in 2nd Test

Ever since his return, Bumrah has scalped 27 wickets in Tests from seven innings at an incredible average of 11.66 with two five-wicket hauls to his name. In ODIs, he has picked 28 wickets from 16 innings at an average of 20.28 and an economy of 4.40. Furthermore, in the two T20Is, he played on his comeback, the speedster picked four wickets at an average of 9.75 and an economy of 4.87.

His recent figures of 9/91 against England in the second Test in Visakhapatnam were the second-best bowling figures of his career. Bumrah will continue his magnificent form as India take on England in the third Test beginning from February 15 at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot.