LONDON: India paceman Jasprit Bumrah has been named as the Leading Men’s Cricketer in the World in the 2025 edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, with comp­atriot Smriti Mandhana picking up the women’s award.

Bumrah was given the honour by the sport’s “bible” after a stunning 2024 in which he excelled in red-ball and white-ball cricket.

The 31-year-old picked up 71 Test wickets at an average of less than 15 and was named player of the tournament as India won the T20 World Cup in the West Indies.

Wisden editor Lawrence Booth described Bumrah as “quite simply the star of the year”.

Reflecting on Bumrah’s astonishing efforts during India’s Test series in Australia, Booth wrote: “He was so lethal, so uniquely challenging — a staccato of limbs somehow forming a symphony — that runs scored off him should have counted double.

“And while taking 32 Australian wickets at 13 each, he laid a claim to be considered the greatest of all time, becoming the first with 200 Test wickets at an average below 20.”

Despite Bumrah’s heroics, Australia won the five-Test series, which finished in early January, 3-1.

Mandhana, 28, made it an Indian double by being named as the Leading Women’s Cricketer in the World. The batter scored 1,659 runs across all formats in 2024 — the most by a woman in a calendar year of international cricket.

West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran was named as the game’s leading T20 cricketer.

In the almanack, which is published on Thursday, Booth is scathing about Jay Shah’s smooth transition from the most powerful figure in Indian cricket to chairman of the International Cricket Council.

“[It is] a sorry truth: 2024 was the year cricket gave up any claim to being properly administered, with checks, balances, and governance for the many, not the few,” Booth writes.

He adds: “Cricket has handed over the only key not already in India’s possession. All hail the Big One.”

The Wisden Cricketers’ Alma­n­ack has been published continually on an annual basis since its first edition in 1864.

Wisden also names five Cricketers of the Year — an award that can only be won once in a career — and is generally based on performances in the previous English season.

England trio Gus Atkinson, Jamie Smith and Sophie Ecclestone have been named among the five in the 2025 edition.

Hampshire spinner Liam Dawson, who has also played for England, and Surrey paceman Dan Worrall complete the line-up.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2025