Former cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop hailed Jasprit Bumrah as a “generational bowler” as India’s spearhead enjoys a brilliant campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.
Jasprit Bumrah was unable to play in the last edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia due to a back injury and has not taken long to show why India missed his services so much. He bagged the Man of the Match award in the first two matches against Ireland and Pakistan.
Against Ireland, he took 2 wickets for just 6 runs in 3 overs as India bowled out their opponents for a paltry 96 and won the game by 8 wickets. Jasprit Bumrah then showed why he is considered the best pacer in the world by putting up an absolutely stunning spell against Pakistan that helped India defend 119 runs.
Pakistan were in the driving seat at one point, needing just 40 runs off 36 balls before Jasprit Bumrah turned the game on its head by castling a well-placed Mohammad Rizwan. In the 19th over, he conceded just 3 runs and also dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed to put India ahead. He finally finished the game with figures of 3 for 14 in 4 overs.
Ian Bishop greets Jasprit Bumrah:
Since Jasprit Bumrah had an excellent outing in the T20 World Cup, Ian Bishop has praised him. Bishop said the Indian star not only has good variations but is also better than anyone at using them. Bishop went on to explain what makes Bumrah so good and concluded by calling him a generational bowler.
“Jasprit is intelligent, a good communicator who thinks about the game,” Ian Bishop told Star Sports. “He starts from the base, but he has also developed variations and knows better than most players when to use his variations.
“You hear him say, ‘It’s not every day I go looking for wickets; there are days I bowl my yorker into the stumps, days I bowl a wide yorker; there are days I assess the conditions and bowl my slower ball into the pitch.’ or use my gorilla.’ Besides that, it has other ingredients.
“It has a unique action where the ball comes to you much faster than hitters anticipate, the full pitch [that got Iftikhar, for example] that’s why. Sometimes they don’t get crushed because they attack you.
“Of course, when you develop that reputation… when I was bowling with Curtly Ambrose, Matthew [Hayden] I never made a mistake against Curtly because of his reputation, but he would look to crush me. This guy is a generational bowler,” he added.
Meanwhile, Team India has booked its place in the Super 8s of the ongoing T20 World Cup. They are in Group 1 along with Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Australia. India’s first Super 8 match will be against Afghanistan on Thursday (June 20).