The former wicket-keeper batter of India Dinesh Karthik has addressed Jasprit Bumrah as the best all-format bowler of world cricket at the moment, after his heroics in this recently finished T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), where he finished with the ‘Player of the Tournament’ ahead.
Defending 176 during the final of the competition against South Africa, at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Jasprit Bumrah picked up the wicket of under-performed opener Reeza Hendricks, as the ball shaped in and moved away to break the stumps of the batter.
He came back in a critical situation, when the opposition needed 22 runs in 18 balls, with David Miller, an aggressive batter, and Marco Jansen, someone who has the power to clear the fence with ease. The India pacer gave away only two runs in the seventh over, including the wickets of Jansen.
‘Genuinely, Jasprit Bumrah is the greatest all-format bowler in world cricket’- Dinesh Karthik
The veteran wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik feels that Jasprit Bumrah has been one of the major reasons why India reached to the position in the competition, and also was able to hold their nerve for the victory, from a situation where they would finish on the wrong side of the line, on most occasions.
The first couple of balls of the 17th over in that final from the Ahmedabad-born fats bowler was pushed back by Miller, who even after being there for his 17 runs in 11 balls on that surface wasn’t getting the singles. The left-hander somehow punched the wide ball through square for a single.
The fourth ball to Jansen from Bumrah was a superb inswinger, as it nipped in after pitching on off stumps and got the batter on the inside edge, as he simply tried to push the bat forward, expecting to defend the ball, but it was too late, too little. The ball ended up knocking the leg-stump as Jasprit Bumrah celebrated.
Before that over he bowled another superb over to both Miller and Heinrich Klassen, where both of these batters could manage to get only four runs, divided into a couple of singles and a couple of runs.
Before that particular Jasprit Bumrah over, Klassen had already smashed Axar Patel for a couple of boundaries and as many as sixes in the 15th over, to get them near the chase.
The first ball to the left-handed Miller was a cutter that moved away to catch the inside edge of the batter but somehow smelled the off-stump to reach the fine-leg region. Klassen, with fierce battle, took a couple of runs to celebrate his fifty in 23 balls. In the next three balls, the same batter could get a single, as the first two balls were either on the pads or in the yorker length.
Jasprit Bumrah ended the spell with 2/18 in his four overs, as Kartik reckoned that the pacer is the most valuable member of the Indian team given his equal greatness in all three formats of the game.
‘When I was on air, I said he (Jasprit Bumrah) is more valuable than a Kohinoor diamond. Genuinely, he is the greatest all-format bowler at the moment in world cricket.’ Karthik expressed on Cricbuzz. ‘Under pressure to come and keep performing time and time again, not many can do that.’
Also Read: Ahmed Shahzad Feels Virat Kohli And Babar Azam Should Not Get Compared
The wicket-keeper mentioned that the 30-year-old is the perfect player who would be so valuable for the captain to produce instant results in any condition.
‘He’s a captain dream-someone who wins at any stage, any play of the match- that’s what makes him so special.’ The Tamil Nadu batter observed. ‘Brilliant, fantabulous-that’s the word for him.’
Earlier it was Navjot Singh Sidhu who called Virat Kohli as the Kohinoor of Indian cricket, making him the pride of the country and world cricket.