The former England pace bowler from the women’s side, Isha Guha, came under scrutiny after her sensitive statement on Jasprit Bumrah, the premier Indian pace bowler, during the commentary stint on the second day’s play of the third Test in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at the Gabba in Brisbane. That statement came early in the day.
Only 13.2 overs of play were possible in the opening day of the third fixture for persistent rain. Nathan McSweeney and Usman Khawaja smashed the opening spell of Jasprit Bumrah, Aakash Deep, and Mohammad Siraj, as all of the three pacers struggled badly with the new ball.
However, that wasn’t the case at the start of the second day’s play. They made the bowlers play the shot as the new ball whistled past the edge of the blade on multiple occasions. The Ahmedabad-born found the outside edge of the bat of Khawaja, who struggled badly against the 31-year-old in the set-up, while Nathan McSweeney, tried of the defense threw his bat to edge into the hands of the slip fielder.
Isa Guha describes Jasprit Bumrah as the ‘Most valuable primate’
Jasprit Bumrah has been in tremendous touch in the series so far. In the opening fixture, he led the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who didn’t take part in the contest for paternity leave due to the birth of his second child. Bumrah picked up eight wickets in the game as India went 0-1 up in the series on the back of their 295-run victory.
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In the second day-night affair at the Adelaide Oval, he had a decent time with four wickets which wasn’t enough though from saving India from the 10-wicket defeat as Travis Head smashed 140 runs in the encounter.
Speaking on Fox Cricket about the opening session on the second day’s play, the Gujarat pacer got full praise from the former aggressive New South Wales pacer, Brett Lee, who kept India in the game with a brilliant opening spell.
“Bumrah, today: five overs, 2-4. So, that’s the tone, and that’s what you want from the ex-skipper.” The former fast bowler of Australia expressed on air.
However, in response to the statement, Guha made an eye-raising remark where he called Jasprit Bumrah a ‘primate’.
“Well, he’s the MVP, isn’t he? Most valuable primate, Jasprit Bumrah.” The former England women’s pacer shed light. “He is the one that’s going to do all the talking for India, and why so much focus was on him in the build-up to this Test match, and whether he would be fit.”
One of the reasons for the comment sparking the fans on social media is the 2008 infamous incident called Monkey Gate, between Harbhajan Singh, the veteran off-spinner for the Indian side, who was accused of racially abusing the late great all-rounder of Australia, Andrew Symonds, by calling him a ‘monkey’ at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Harbhajan went through a three-match suspension amid speculations of the ongoing tour potentially getting canceled. But, an appeal to the ICC saw the ban getting lifted. Jasprit Bumrah, in the Brisbane Test, enjoyed another five-wicket haul as he currently has 25 wickets in 25 overs at an economy of just under three.
The premier Indian pacer has now collected 49 Test scalps down under in 19 innings at an average of under 19 and a strike rate of 43.3. He will aim to shoulder the responsibility for the last two games in Melbourne and Sydney.