India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah once again had world cricket go ga-ga over him after his masterclass in Leeds on Day 3 of the opening Test match against England. After picking three wickets on Day 2 of the match, he added two more to complete his 14th five-wicket haul that denied England from taking a first-innings lead at home, falling just six runs short of India’s mark.
It was a one-man show in the second innings at Headingley as Bumrah struggled to find support from fellow quicks and the fielders. Despite three dropped catches off his bowling on Saturday, Bumrah finished with 3 for 48 that left the game evenly poised at the close of Day 2. He added two more for 34 runs the next day, while the remaining three pacers – Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj and, Prasidh Krishna picked three wickets for 288 runs.
It was Bumrah’s 12th five-wicket haul in away Tests in just 34 such appearances, levelling the legendary Kapil Dev, who managed the same in 66 matches.
Speaking to Sky Cricket, former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik could not keep calm as he deemed Bumrah to be “as valuable as the Kohinoor diamond,” as he highlighted that the India star has the best bowling average (19.33) among all 86 cricketers in history who have at least taken 200 or more wickets in Test cricket.
“He is as valuable as the Kohinoor diamond. I hope people realise how important he is to the team across formats. He will make it work regardless of formats, bowling phase and any kind of ball. But more importantly, he has got the brain that knows what the batter is trying to do and he has got that wired very nicely. In the history of the game, for any bowler who has picked more than 200 wickets, he has the best average and that tells you he is something very special,” he said.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, however, stole the show as he compared Bumrah to Kapil and the great Malcolm Marshall. Shastri reckoned that while Bumrah is a lot different from the former India captain, he ain’t far behind from the West Indies legend in terms of reading the batter and setting them up.
“There is no question he is India’s greatest fast bowler. I played with Kapil Dev but this guy is different. He can take any opposition apart, on any surface, in any format. I thought Malcolm Marshall was the best I saw in reading a batter and setting him up but this guy is not far behind. When he is swinging the new ball it becomes hard for any batter in the world to counter him, what with the action and the late release,” he told Sky Cricket.
Bumrah’s 5 for 83 helped India take a slender six-run lead in the first innings, to which they added 90 runs more at the close of Day 3. India were 90 for two at stumps on Day 2.
