File image of Pat Cummins
Australian pacer Pat Cummins went wicketless in the second innings in the second Test against New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. However, by virtue of his five-wicket haul in the first innings, his second for the year and fifth in his career, Cummins ended the year with most wickets across formats - 99 wickets in 2019. With the tally, he did not just finish atop in wicket-taking charts in 2019, he is the highest wicket-taking pacer this decade (second as a bowler) and managed to keep a unique Glenn McGrath, Kapil Dev tradition alive.
Cummins' 99 wickets came in 35 matches at 20.50 an average and strike rate of 36.8 with three fi-fers and one ten-wicket haul. India's Mohammed Shami finished second with 77 wickets.
Breaking Cummins' 99 according to formats - the pacer picked 31 wickets in ODIs, finishing seventh in 2019; he bagged nine wickets in T20Is, and finished as the leading Test wicket-taker with 59 scalps.
Cummins' 99 is also the highest for a pacer in this decade, 11 ahead of Mitchell Strac's tally in 2015. However, he finished second among bowlers, 13 behind England's Graeme Swann who had bagged 111 wickets in 2010. Cummins is however not the highest wicket-taker across formats for a decade as his idol Glenn McGrath still stands atop with 119 wickets that he had picked in 1999, while Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan's 136 wickets (2001) still shines atop in the all-time overall list.
The Aussie also managed to keep a unique tradition alive. Since the start of ODIs, pacers have always finished as highest wicket-taker in the final year of a decade. Indian great Kapil Dev started the tradition back in 1979 and since then, Terry Alderman (76 wickets in 1989), Mcgrath (1999), Mitchell Johnson (2009) have all managed to keep the tradition alive.
Earlier this month, Cummins was roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders for the impending IPL 2020 for a whopping INR 15.50 crore - the most for an overseas player in an IPL auction.
