From Melbourne Cricket Ground: Jasprit Bumrah- National Treasure of India. Jasprit Bumrah- Kohinoor. Complete fast bowler like Jasprit Bumrah-Malcolm Marshall. Jasprit Bumrah-Sachin Tendulkar of bowling. In the last few years, many cricket experts and fans around the world seem to be yearning for adjectives to describe Bumrah’s greatness, just like the legendary batsman is helpless against his bowling. Bumrah, who joined the club of 200 wickets in his 44th Test, has actually also joined the club of neither past nor future (neither there was anyone like this in the past nor probably there will be anyone like this in the future). Even the great Marshall had not completed 200 wickets at an average of less than 20 in Test cricket. Before Bumrah, the bowler who joined the club of 200 wickets with such a good average was Joel Garner of West Indies. Now, if you belong to that generation who heard, watched and understood cricket in their childhood, listening to the amazing feats of bowlers like Marshall, Garner, Holding, they must be very proud of the fact that Australia itself has given the world the best cricket in the world through Dennis Lillee, Jeff They have given all-time great fast bowlers like Thomson, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee, they also have the feeling that perhaps they have also given a fearsome bowler like Bumrah. Haven’t seen it.
Kapil’s record broken, now Johnson on target
If we look at it from a statistical point of view, during the Australian tour of 1991-92, the great Kapil Dev had taken 25 wickets in the 5-match Test series and that record was still intact. Bumrah not only broke Kapil Dev’s record in the fourth Test of the current series but now he also seems to be getting closer to making a new record. Bumrah may also complete the formality of breaking Mitchell Johnson’s record of 37 wickets in a 5-match series in the 2013-14 Ashes in Sydney. That was the best game by a bowler in a 5-match series on Australian soil in the last 100 years. Coincidentally, in that series, the visiting team England was constantly looking scared due to the fear of Johnson and this time the hosts are seen getting completely defeated in front of Bumrah.
Dreams of victory depend on Bumrah
If India is dreaming of victory in the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy series or can even think of returning without losing the series, then it is only because of a personality like Bumrah being in his extraordinary form. Bumrah had left a tremendous impression not only on the ball but also as a captain in the first test and had also given Team India an unexpected lead of 1-0. Because of that, when Team India reached Melbourne, every result in the series seemed possible.
Why doesn’t Bumrah get the respect that batsmen have?
This writer remembers how when we met another great fast bowler Andy Roberts in Antigua on the Caribbean tour of 2022, he told us without asking that you people always worship batsmen in your country, why does Bumrah get that respect? Don’t give? On this statement of Roberts, I was forced to stop and think that Indian fans really did not appreciate or praise a genius like Bumrah as much as he deserved?
Bumrah also works as a bowling coach.
Team India’s former bowling coach Paras Mahambre recently told this writer how the presence of a teammate like Bumrah makes the job of the head coach or bowling coach of the team easier. With the ease with which Bumrah guides the young bowlers or teaches them new tricks, the work is done by the coach and not by any teammate. Bumrah also plays the role of unofficial bowling coach of this team!
Why doesn’t Jasprit Bumrah give interviews?
We meet Bumrah in Pretoria during the South Africa tour earlier this year. The team had to go for practice but due to rain, important players of the team including Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid were waiting for the team bus in the hotel lobby. Given the opportunity, we asked Bumrah this question as to why he does not do interviews. Smiling at this informal question, he replied, “What new do I have to say?” My job is to bowl and I do that. When I told him that the world also wants to know who you wanted to be like, who were your heroes… To this Rohit Sharma replied in a humorous manner – Hey brother, why would he want to be like anyone else? That’s Bumrah, Bhai Bumrah! Today everyone wants to become a bowler like Bumrah.
Boom-boom Bumrah… red ball or white ball
The Indian captain may have said that thing in a joking manner, but this thing will be said with full seriousness not only today but in every coming year. Not only in the history of Indian cricket but in the world, a complete bowler like Bumrah has never appeared before and perhaps will not be seen again. Before you get surprised at this statement, I would like to remind you that Bumrah has been equally impressive not only in red ball but also in white ball one-day cricket and T20 cricket. Among the great modern bowlers who left an indelible mark on their journey to 200 Test wickets, Waqar Younis and Shaun Pollock were excellent in ODI cricket. And the same can be said about South Africa’s two other great bowlers, Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada, who have not even come close to Bumrah in T20. And while passing by, let us also tell you that while assessing the greatness of Bumrah, we did not even mention his amazing IPL, in which tournament despite the pitches and rules being very helpful for the batsmen, Bumrah continues to shine.
This is the era of Jasprit Bumrah and this generation is lucky to see the wonders of this genius spreading magic in front of them. While assessing the all-time greatness, it is probably not right to find a spot on Waqar Younis-Wasim Akram (by talking about taking advantage by spoiling the ball) and it is also not the fault of James Anderson that he has been exceptional in England. Dennis Lillee’s mediocre record in Asia has always been used to belittle his greatness. But, the special thing about Bumrah is that like Malcolm Marshall, he is a symbol of perfection. One more thing is that apart from the red ball, he is equally effective in both the white ball formats and we are not even mentioning the IPL.
Tags: Border Gavaskar Trophy, India vs Australia, jasprit bumrah
FIRST PUBLISHED: December 29, 2024, 15:34 IST