Josh Hazlewood vs Jasprit Bumrah: Who is a better bowler in all formats at present?

Josh Hazlewood bowled a match-wining spell in the 2nd T20I vs India. His brilliance leads to the question - Is he a better bowler than Bumrah?

Josh Hazlewood showed his brilliance and turned out to be nearly unplayable during the second T20I match against India at the MCG. His spell with the new ball literally ripped through the Indian top-order and gave them a shock, from which they failed to recover.

Josh Hazlewood and Jasprit Bumrah(HT)

Hazlewood finished his spell with 3 for 13 in his four overs. His three wickets were Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma. That impeccable spell with the new ball was the prime reason that India were bundled out for just 125 in the game.

With 125 runs on the board, India expected their ace pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, to do something similar to Hazlewood and propel the team towards victory. But Bumrah failed to deliver and, in fact, leaked a few runs early, making the chase look easier for the Aussies. Yes, he did pick up a couple of wickets and finished his spell with two wickets for 26 runs, but those wickets were of little consequence.

Bumrah is often projected as the best pacer of contemporary cricket; however, the comparison of the recent show from the two bowlers leads us to the question: Is Josh Hazlewood a better all-format bowler than Bumrah?

Josh Hazlewood vs Jasprit Bumrah: Overall Career

Player	Matches	Wickets	Economy Rate	Average	Strike Rate
ODIs
Jasprit Bumrah	89	149	4.59	23.55	30.7
Josh Hazlewood	96	142	4.73	27.66	35
Tests
Jasprit Bumrah	50	226	2.78	19.83	42.7
Josh Hazlewood	76	295	2.77	24.21	52.2
T20Is
Jasprit Bumrah	77	98	6.35	17.75	16.7
Josh Hazlewood	60	79	7.47	21.26	17

So, when we see the overall career of the two bowlers across formats, Jasprit Bumrah emerges as the more efficient of the two. He has had the better average and strike rate across formats. However, the comparison between the two players is more of a recent thing, so let us delve a bit deeper into the performance of the two bowlers in the last three seasons.

Josh Hazlewood vs Jasprit Bumrah: Last 3 years

In the last two years, Jasprit Bumrah has played 15 T20I matches and has picked up 24 wickets in them. He has achieved these numbers while having an economy of 5.48 with a strike rate of 13.79 and an average of 11.87.

Now, if we look at Josh Hazlewood’s numbers in the last two years in T20Is, then we see that he has played 19 matches and has picked up 21 wickets in them. Her economy during this phase has been 7.02, while his average and strike rate have been 23.76 and 20.28, respectively.

So, in the last couple of years, Bumrah has emerged as the more efficient bowler in the T20Is.

Let us look at the Test number of the two players. In the last three years, Bumrah has played 20 matches in the longest format and has picked up 98 wickets in them. Josh Hazlewood has picked up 78 wickets in 18 matches. So, Bumrah has picked up nearly five wickets every match in the last three years in Test cricket; on the other hand, Hazlewood’s numbers are closer to four wickets per match. So, Bumrah proves to be the more efficient bowler in this case, too.

Notably, Bumrah has not featured in an ODI after 2023, so we are not going into the comparison for that format. When it comes to pure numbers, Bumrah disproves the theory that Hazlewood is a better bowler than him in any format. Across formats, over time, Bumrah has emerged as the more efficient of the two.

The fact to consider here is the role of the two bowlers. While Bumrah is the prime attacking weapon for India, Hazlewood’s job is to hold one end for Cummins and Starc. While Hazlewood has the strength of consistency in line and length, Bumrah has the strength of variation. The two bowlers are quite different, and hence the results they yield are also different. However, statistically, Bumrah emerges as the more efficient bowler across formats.