Jasprit Bumrah beats Pat Cummins, Dane Paterson to become Player of the Month for December 2024

Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah might have not ended up on the winning side in the Border-Gavaskar trophy with his team, but he has been rewarded with the Player of the Month award for December 2024. 

On the back of an insane performance in the five-match BGT - which was also hailed by one of the best in Australia ever - Bumrah has edged out competition from Australia captain Pat Cummins and South African quick Dane Paterson to bag the last monthly honour of 2024. 

This is the second time that Bumrah has been named as the Player of the Month twice in a year as he was also chosen as the best cricketer for June after playing a vital role in India's T20 World Cup 2024 that month. 

This time again Bumrah made everyone fall in awe for him with a sensational performance in Australia. He ended up as the leading wicket-taker by far, having taken 32 wickets in nine innings at a mind-blowing average of 13.06 and an economy of 2.76. The second-highest wicket-taker of the series was Pat Cummins, who took 25 wickets in 10 innings at 21.36.

He became the highest wicket-taking



pacer in an India vs Australia Test series. He was joint highest overall with Harbhajan Singh, who had also taken 32 wickets in a three-match home series in 2000/01.

Bumrah took three five-wicket hauls in the series, with the first one coming in the first innings of Perth, the only Test that India had won. He then took six wickets in the first innings of the third Test, before picking another fifer in the second innings in the fourth Test.

Meanwhile, Paterson and Cummins also had impressive months. While Cummins was the second-highest wicket-taker in the BGT, Paterson took 13 wickets in two Test matches - one against Sri Lanka and the other against Pakistan. He also had two five-wicket hauls. But both fell short of the brilliance of Bumrah, who had carried the Indian team single-handedly in Australia.

Meanwhile, in the women's section, Australian all-rounder Annabel Sutherland was named the Player of the Month for December. Sutherland hit 269 runs during the month at an average of 67.25 with two centuries. She beat a challenge from India's vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and South African spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba.