Ex-England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain heaped praises for the star Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who was brilliant in the first Test of the ongoing 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The 30-year-old speedster, leading the Indian attack in the game at Optus Stadium, Perth, took five wickets in the first innings and had Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, and Travis Head on his cards in the second innings to end the match with an extraordinary outing of 8 for 72 runs in 30 overs and propel India to a famous victory by 295 runs.
By his super performance with the ball, Bumrah was declared the Player of the Match. Impressed by the Bumrah act, Atherton during the Sky Sports Cricket podcast said he rejoiced at not having faced the Indian pacer in his career while praising the Indian star.
“I thought Jasprit Bumrah was absolutely fantastic. Those two new ball spells. I mean, there are a few bowlers when you retire; you don’t really think about your time as a player, but there are the odd bowlers that just make you think, thank goodness I did not face him with a new ball,” Atherton said.
“I mean, how would you play him? He’s like a nightmare, isn’t he? He stutters away from off about 10 yards and then unleashes these thunderbolts, usually bang on a sixpence,” he added.
Hussain also had the same thoughts regarding Bumrah and said he was surprised that there wasn’t much talk about Bumrah before the match, given that he has been performing brilliantly for such a long time.
The Indian Test vice-captain, in the opinion of Hussain, is the best all-format bowler in the world.
“I was considering that before the game, but he was doing the press conference. I was watching all the sort of focus had been on (Virat) Kohli and Rohit Sharma not being there and the balance of the Indian side and Steve Smith.
“Would they get runs? These great players–I thought they don’t talk about Bumrah, and maybe it s just being a bowler. Much much batter gets highlighted compared to him. Bumrah’s figures are way up there with me. He’s popped under 20 over quite a long period of time. He’s incredible in all formats. He’s the best all-format bowler in the world bar none,’ Hussain said.
