Test cricket is fundamentally a game of patience, strategy, and endurance. Played across five intense days, the traditional format demands that batsmen value their wickets just as highly as the runs they score, treating time at the crease as a precious commodity.
Yet, the record for the most expensive over in Test history completely flips this conservative script – featuring elite Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah not with the ball, but as the destructive batsman.
Exactly four years ago today, on July 2, 2022, Bumrah shattered the world record by dismantling England’s legendary pacer Stuart Broad during the Edgbaston Test in Birmingham.
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JASPRIT BUMRAH ON THIS DAY 4 YEARS AGO HANDED STUART BROAD THE MOST EXPENSIVE OVER IN TEST CRICKET HISTORY. pic.twitter.com/K4fV7bAr2p
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 2, 2026
The historic onslaught took place during the morning session of Day 2. India’s first innings was winding down, and the team found themselves nine wickets down with only the tailenders remaining. Stepping up as the stand-in captain for the match, Bumrah launched an audacious, uninhibited attack that left Broad and the English fielders completely shell-shocked.
By the time the chaotic over concluded, a staggering 35 runs had been leaked, comfortably eclipsing the previous world record.
Ball-by-Ball Breakdown of Broad’s 35-Run Over:
Delivery 1: 4 Runs – Bumrah hooks a top-edge to the boundary
Delivery 2: 5 Runs – Wide ball that flies past the keeper for four extra runs
Delivery 3: 7 Runs – Bumrah hits a six off a No-Ball
Delivery 4: 4 Runs – Full toss swatted through mid-wicket
Delivery 5: 4 Runs – Inside edge streaks past the stumps to the rope
Delivery 6: 4 Runs – Elegant boundary struck through the leg side
Delivery 7: 6 Runs – Clean, powerful hook shot over deep backward square leg
Delivery 8: 1 Run – Tap-and-run single to retain strike
Through a mix of raw power, clearing his front leg, and a bit of luck, Bumrah personally accumulated 29 runs off his bat. Combined with the 6 extras conceded through Broad’s procedural errors (the wide and the no-ball), the over entered the record books as the absolute costliest sequence in the history of red-ball cricket.
Most Expensive Overs in Test History
Jasprit Bumrah’s explosive cameo shattered a 19-year-old record previously held by West Indian icon Brian Lara. Interestingly, Stuart Broad’s inclusion on this list links him to an unwanted twin record; he is also the bowler who conceded the most expensive over in T20 International history, when Yuvraj Singh famously hit him for six consecutive sixes (36 runs) during the 2007 T20 World Cup.
