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Former star batter Sanjay Manjrekar, who is now a famous cricket commentator rights said, when he termed Jasprit Bumrah as Team India’s genie, you make a wish and you get it. India’s pace spearhead Bumrah is going through a purple patch and has enjoyed an exceptional form in 2024. He is currently the leading wicket taker (29) in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-2025. Talking about his performance throughout the 2024, he has picked 70 wickets in 13 matches (26 innings) at an outstanding average of 15.12 and an economy of 2.97 so far riding on four five-wicket hauls.
Not just this, Bumrah also bagged a big milestone on Day 4 of the fourth Test against Australia on December 29, as he notched 200th wickets in the longest format of the game. This feat is even more extraordinary considering his average remains below 20, a distinction no other bowler in Test cricket history can claim. Among the 85 bowlers who have reached the 200-wicket mark, only 12 have achieved this milestone in fewer matches than Bumrah.
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This exceptional performance garnered widespread praise from former cricketers. Following Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test Sanjay Manjrekar lauded Bumrah, stressing on his immense value to the Indian cricket team.
“There’s just no weakness this man has. it’s almost like he is this genie that Indian cricket have brought as a gift and you make a wish and you get it. And it’s always Bumrah providing it, be it T20 cricket World Cup or 50 over World Cup, or it’s a match like this, crucial game on a page where a lot of the bowlers struggle to get anything out of it. He was getting lateral movement,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.
“He’s cleaned up Alex Carey, as if, he’s a number 10, 11 batter. He just had two balls in that spell left. You knew he wasn’t going to bowl more than two balls, and he nailed Alex Carey there as well. And when you look at the average, I mean, this is unbelievable. We talk about Curtly Ambrose. I had the privilege of playing against Malcolm Marshall. Now those are great names, and an average of under 20 after 200 wickets is just mind-boggling stuff from Jasprit Bumrah,” he concluded.
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Even former Australia’s head coach Justin Langer couldn’t stop himself from heaping praise on Bumrah. He went on to declare that Bumrah is like a right-handed version of Wasim Akram.
“I’ve spoken about Jasprit being like a right-handed version of Wasim Akram, who I thought was the greatest bowler I was ever fortunate to play against. And now, when you look at those numbers, Jasprit Bumrah has a better average than all the legends of the game. We’ve seen that throughout this series. Every time he comes to Australia, he proves he is a superstar. Every time he bowls, the Australian dressing room sits on the edge of their seats, just praying that he finally has an off day,” Langer said.
The 31-year-old is also running riot with the ball in the fourth Test against Australia at the MCG. He has so far taken eight wickets in both the innings and played instrumental role in India’s fightback in the match. It was due to his four-fer Australia were left reeling at 91/6 on Day 4. However, Australia recovered quickly and rode on Marnus Labuschagne’s 70 and key contributions from their tailenders to extend their lead to 333 runs by the end of day’s play
Dec 29 2024 10:06 PM
Dec 29 2024 8:48 PM
