What makes Jasprit Bumrah stand out from other bowlers?

Jasprit Bumrah (Pic: File Pic)

Jasprit Bumrah, one of the most decorated bowlers in Indian cricket's history is often praised by the cricketing legends for his capability to snatch the game away from the opposition at any time.

One of the most recent examples of Bumrah showcasing his prowess to the cricketing world was during the T20 World Cup 2024. During the match between the arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, having needed to bat first, the "Men in Blue" skittled for 119 runs. Nothing was going right in the favour of Team India. The "Green Shirts" almost pulled the game away from the Indians and that's when skipper Rohit Sharma decided the bring in his most reliable bowler, Jasprit Bumrah. Pakistan's opening batsman Mohammad Rizwan was well-settled in the middle and it seemed like the right-hander would easily take his team home. In the crucial circumstances, with Rizwan batting on 31 runs, Bumrah snapped the wicket of the right-hander bringing the Indians back in the game. Along with Rizwan, the lead Indian pacer also accounted for the wickets of opposition captain Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed. The man with the unorthodox bowling action was awarded the "Man of the Match" for his contributions of three wickets for 14 runs in a four-over spell.

Later, Jasprit Bumrah was named the "Player of the Tournament" for his stellar performances throughout the T20 World Cup 2024.

Also Read: "He's a nightmare!": Ricky Ponting hails lead Indian pacer Bumrah

Apart from his bowling heroics, Jasprit Bumrah has a unique record with the willow. Former England pacer Stuart Broad, famously known for getting smashed for 6 sixes by India's Yuvraj Singh was forced to register another unwanted record to his name. In a Test match between India and England in Birmingham, Jasprit Bumrah accumulated 35 runs off Broad's single over. With this, the Indian pacer holds the record for scoring the most runs in a single over in the history of Test cricket.

Recently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed former South African cricketer Morne Morkel as the bowling coach of the senior men's team. Morne's brother and former Proteas' all-rounder Albie Morkel, when asked in an interview about his take on the Indian specialist, Albie said, "I don't know what his exact thoughts would be, but Jasprit is the best all-format bowler in the world. He is very special and I'm sure Morne would love to work with him."

Australian legend Ricky Ponting too hailed Bumrah by saying, "he's probably been the best multi-format bowler there's been in world cricket for the last five or six years. He's a nightmare!"

The bowler with the calibre of Dale Steyn, pace like Brett Lee, yorkers of Shoaib Akhtar and swing like Wasim Akram, Jasprit Bumrah deserves all the praises.

So far, Jasprit Bumrah has represented India in 36 Tests in which he claimed 159 wickets. In the One-Day Internationals, he featured in 89 matches and has 149 wickets. Bumrah has played 70 matches in the shortest format of the game in which he has 89 wickets.