RevSportz Comment
Though he never played a Test against them, Damien Fleming, a superb swing bowler on his day, was part of the generation of Australian cricketers that wrested the (unofficial) Test-match crown from mighty West Indies in the 1990s. So, when Fleming – who witnessed Curtly Ambrose’s spell of 1/7 from 5.2 overs at the old WACA in Perth, the sorcery of Wasim Akram and the White Lightning of Allan Donald – speaks, you tend to listen.
“Jasprit Bumrah is the greatest touring fast bowler that I have ever seen,” he said recently, as Bumrah finished the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 32 wickets, despite being unable to bowl in the final innings in Sydney. “He is an absolute superstar.” For Indian cricket fans, however, Bumrah is the surprise gift that just keeps on giving.
Those who were at Newlands in January 2018 will remember just how much the then-24-year-old Bumrah’s selection was mocked, both in the press box and in clips aired on Indian television. What was an IPL player and a guy who bowled good yorkers for India in T20Is doing in whites? Fortunately, Virat Kohli, then captain, and Ravi Shastri, the coach, knew a lot more about the game than their critics, and Indian cricket hasn’t looked back since.
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Worlds like ‘generational talent’ are thrown around loosely these days, often before a player has even proved himself for a couple of seasons. But Bumrah is that, and so much more. From humble beginnings, and a pathway that was far removed from that paved for most prodigies, he had to do everything the hard way. That he has gone on to become such a complete bowler in all conditions is testament not just to his ability to soak up relevant information from here, there and everywhere, but a work ethic that is second to none. Those yorkers and befuddling slower balls are no accident – they are cricket diamonds that have been worked on for years to get that 24-carat finish.
The raw numbers since that Cape Town morning when he was given his first cap are mind-boggling enough. Both his average (19.40) and strike-rate (42) while taking 205 wickets from 45 Tests put him top of the heap, ahead of names like Malcolm Marshall, Dale Steyn and Glenn McGrath. Only in New Zealand, where he has played just two Tests, has Bumrah failed to grab a series by the scruff. In 2024, he took 71 wickets in just 13 Tests, at a ridiculous average of 14.92. Only in four innings out of 26 (and one of those was a solitary over in Adelaide) did the opposition stop him taking a wicket.
But the figures can only tell you so much. They can’t tell you of the awe he provokes in those that face him. Usman Khawaja spoke of being ‘Bumrah-ed’, while Travis Head – who specialises in wrecking Indian cricket dreams – couldn’t hide his admiration. Michael Clarke, who captained Mitchell Johnson during his Ashes pomp in 2013-14, told RevSportz that he hasn’t seen a better all-format pace bowler.
Bumrah can swing the ball, both new and old. He can get it to nip off the seam. He has a bouncer that rears up at you like an angry snake, and a yorker that makes a grotesque mess of stumps. The slower ball is a disguised thing of beauty, and his control is incredible for someone who hardly bowls at medium pace.
Comparisons with bowlers from the uncovered-pitches era are pointless, but Bumrah more than holds his own against the modern greats. If you started following cricket 40 years ago, Marshall was the gold standard, capable of 33 wickets in an India series and of skittling teams in English conditions. Wasim Akram’s skill-set was second to none, while McGrath redefined control. Steyn had similar levels of accuracy at his peak, and Marshall’s waspish pace.
Bumrah can still crank it up to the mid-140s when in the mood, and he is almost chess master-like in the way he works out batters. Forget his greatness in white-ball cricket. Seven years after his much-derided selection, Bumrah is a bonafide great in the Test arena. If India want to win the World Test Championship in 2027, after having seen this cycle unravel so dramatically, he has to be wrapped in cotton wool during meaningless bilateral white-ball assignments. Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Javagal Srinath and Mohammed Shami may still be ahead of him in India’s all-time Test wicket-taker list for pace bowlers, but Bumrah is presently in a league of his own.
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