From Lord’s to Trent Bridge and back – Jasprit Bumrah’s best Test performances against England, in England, despite England
Jasprit Bumrah is a one-man army with the ability to determine which way a Test match tilts.
The pacer is one of the most lethal bowlers in Test cricket, and his average of 19.4 is a testament to that. No team has been immune to his brilliance.
Below, we share some of his best performances in an innings against England.
7. The Oval, September 2021 – 2/27
The only person who believes in Jasprit Bumrah’s batting is probably Jasprit Bumrah. Teams do not fear that he will score a half-century and take the game away from them.
So when he drove Chris Woakes with confidence on his way to a 38-ball 24, England felt that they had a chance in the chase. After all, even Umesh Yadav, another ‘proper’ tailender, had sped to a 23-ball 25. The pitch had flattened. Umesh Yadav.
However, Jasprit Bumrah didn’t care that the pitch had flattened; he somehow extracted late movement and got reverse swing. His figures of 2/27 in the fourth innings did not do justice to what he did with the ball in hand. He hit the deck harder than everyone and tormented England’s batters.
6. Lord’s, August 2021 – 3/33
Jasprit Bumrah has taken three wickets in an innings six times against England; however, his 3/33 in August 2021 has to be his best. He set the tone of the innings with a sensational first over that sent a dazed Rory Burns back to the pavilion for a three-ball duck.
England was trying to find their way back into the contest through their then-captain, Joe Root, when Bumrah struck again. Root’s dismissal signalled the beginning of the end for the hosts.
Mohammed Shami and Mohammad Siraj cleaned up the batters around Root, before Bumrah claimed his final wicket of the match, Ollie Robinson, to complete his three-wicket haul.
5. Nottingham, August 2021 – 4/46
Bumrah and Mohammed Shami combined to create the ultimate weapon as they racked in seven wickets in 37.4 overs. Bumrah did a perfect rendition of the two-card trick in his first over. He got his first four deliveries to move away from Rory Burns before swinging the fifth into the stumps. The inswinger caught Burns unprepared and trapped him lbw.
He then broke the middle order’s back with the wicket of Jos Buttler before he ensured that the tail did not unnecessarily wag for long, dismissing Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson for a combined five runs.
4. Hyderabad, January 2024 – 4/41
This will forever be remembered as the day Bazball met Jasprit Bumrah. England went on to win the match; however, Bumrah put up one of the best fights to prevent that from happening. The pacer poured so much of himself into that contest that he allowed himself the grace to show emotion, a thing that he doesn’t do often.
He banged the ground in desperation. Rohit Sharma chose not to review an lbw appeal, and it turned out that had India chosen to review, Ben Duckett would have been out. So, Bumrah took matters into his hands and castled Duckett four balls later.
England’s Bazballing batters were having their way with the spinners, and often, India’s answer was Bumrah. He accounted for Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, and Rehan Ahmed in a sensational display.
3. Nottingham, August 2018 – 5/85
Bumrah has taken 13 five-wicket hauls, as of 20 June 2025. The first came against South Africa in January 2018. The second one came a few months later, when India toured England. That was the match in which Bumrah showed that he could be India’s match-winner.
The pacer gave Joe Root a working over, varying his lengths and angles so much that the England batter eventually played at a delivery he should have left alone.
The hosts batted themselves into the contest through Jos Buttler, and it was Bumrah who ended his stay after a fine century. The pacer then made it two-in-two when he dismissed Jonny Bairstow with his next ball.
Bumrah’s five-wicket haul helped secure an emphatic victory for the visitors.
2. Nottingham, August 2021 – 5/64
Bumrah stood head and shoulders above the rest of the Indian bowling attack in the match. He took an impressive 4/46 in the first innings and had to dig deep to lead the Indian attack, helping them restrict England to 206 and giving them a shot at either winning or drawing the match.
Bumrah dismissed three of England’s top four, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley and Joe Root as he willed India back into the contest. His biggest scalp was Root, who fell for an impressive 109 from 172. Root’s dismissal triggered a collapse that hastened the close of the third innings.
Bumrah finished the match with an impressive 9/110.
1. Visakhapatnam, February 2024 – 6/45
The pitch at Visakhapatnam was touted as a spinner’s paradise ahead of India’s Test against England. Then Bumrah arrived and turned it into Bumrah’s paradise. The pacer registered his best bowling figures in an innings against England in 71 deliveries across three short spells.
Bumrah ripped out England’s middle-order, accounting for Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow, and Ben Stokes, before cleaning up the tail with the wickets of Tom Hartley and Jimmy Anderson.
His six-wicket haul was a great boon for India, who went on to win the Test. Bumrah finished the match with an impressive tally of 9/91.
The scalps also set the springboard for Bumrah’s ascension to becoming the number one ICC-ranked bowler. The honour made him the first Indian pacer to reach those heights.
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