Balaji compared the Indian fast bowler to many greats like Dennis Lillee, Malcolm Marshall, and Richard Hadlee.
Former India fast bowler Laxmipathy Balaji has lauded star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah for his phenomenal performances recently. Bumrah recently took a match-winning 9-91 in the second Test against England to help India level the series. He is currently the highest wicket-taker in the series with 15 wickets in just 2 Tests at an average of 10.66.
“The angle that Bumrah generates is god’s gift. Coming from wide of the stumps, the areas that he can bowl sometimes defies physics. It is Bumrah’s ability to take the pitch out of the equation that makes him so special,” Balaji said as quoted by TOI.
The former India quick compared Bumrah to many former greats and said that these are phenomenal numbers. “Bumrah’s overall average is in the early 20s (20.19) and he has already got 150 plus wickets…We used to hear of such numbers from Malcolm Marshall or Richard Hadlee. This is phenomenal,” Balaji said.
There are many injury concerns in a fast bowler’s career. Bumrah too suffered an injury when he had a stress reaction in his lower back but he returned even harder and became a better bowler. Balaji compared Bumrah’s comeback to Dennis Lillee’s.
“Bumrah’s form on his return from injury is something similar to Dennis Lillee’s. The Aussie great, who also suffered a serious back injury (in the late 1970s), but came back as a matured and far more potent bowler. Bumrah is doing just that. He hasn’t lost his pace which hasn’t diminished his fear factor. I can tell you from experience to do this is incredibly difficult,” Balaji further added.
Jasprit Bumrah recently became the No. 1 Test bowler in the world for the first time in his career. He became the fastest Indian to pick up 150 Test wickets. He has 155 wickets in just 34 Tests at an average of 20.19. Apart from all this, Bumrah also became the first bowler in cricket history to achieve ICC No. 1 ranking across all formats.
