Aakash Chopra has showered huge praise on Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for his scintillating performance with the ball in the pink-ball Test against Sri Lanka.
Jasprit Bumrah scalped eight wickets across Sri Lanka’s two innings of the Bengaluru Test, which included a maiden five-wicket haul at home. The unconventional pacer seemed almost unplayable whenever he was handed the ball.
Aakash Chopra: Jasprit Bumrah Is A Game Changer And Showstopper
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra was effusive in his praise for pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
He said: “Jasprit Bumrah – he doesn’t play at home, he plays very few matches at home but when he plays the pink-ball Test match, this guy is different. He makes things happen when nothing was happening. He is a game-changer, he is a showstopper.”
The former India opener pointed out that Jasprit Bumrah has drawn fans’ attention to pace bowling in a batting-mad country and praised him for displaying all types of bowling skills.
Aakash Chopra elaborated: “He bowls at a speed of 140 kph, inswinger, outswinger, bouncer, yorker, slower one – I mean he is a complete bowler. We are generally a batting country, we admire batters a lot but he makes it exciting for people wanting to see fast-bowling skills. He brings in anticipation about what he is going to do.”
Team India have been generally known for their batting might and rarely for their seam bowling. However, the emergence of the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami has given a huge fillip to the pace department.
Jasprit Bumrah has so far picked 123 wickets in 29 Test matches at an average of 21.73. Out of his 29 Tests, only 4 have come at home, and out of his 123 Test wickets, 109 have been away from home and 14 at home.
Aakash Chopra : Jasprit Bumrah Is The Best Bowler In The World Across All Formats
While lauding Jasprit Bumrah’s skills, Aakash Chopra added that the speedster will have to be properly managed.
He observed: “So many variations with that kind of control and that kind of speed, you don’t get that, he is that guy. It will be interesting how his workload is managed because you cannot play him all the matches, he is a national asset.”
The renowned commentator concluded by putting pacer Jasprit Bumrah on a high pedestal.
Aakash Chopra opined: “He is the best bowler in the world across all formats. You might say Mitchell Starc took wickets in Karachi, he has done that now, Jasprit Bumrah is doing that daily and regularly in ODIs, T20s and Tests.”
Jasprit Bumrah is certainly one of the premier bowlers in world cricket across formats at the moment. His ability to pick up wickets in all conditions makes him stand apart from the other bowlers.
India defeated Sri Lanka by 238 runs in the 2nd Test match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to clinch the series 2-0. Jasprit Bumrah returned with figures of 3/23 in the 2nd innings after picking 5/24 in the 1st innings.