Ishika Kumar, Pune
The seasoned Australian batsman Steve Smith has highly praised Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah. The praise comes in ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). He called Bumrah arguably the best fast bowler across all formats.
The five-Test series between India and Australia will be held in Perth and begins on the 22nd of November. India has won the last two test series down under. If India are to do a three-peat then Jasprit Bumrah’s rare skills shall be relied upon heavily in Australia.
Smith and Australia succeeded in trumping Bumrah and India in both the WTC and the ODI World Cup finals in 2023 and nonetheless, he was complimentary of the pacer’s quality. As the Australian ODI team is looking forward to sealing a victory in the ODI series on their white-ball England tour, Smith was all praise about how Bumrah is a wonderful bowler, especially talking about the bowler’s skills with the ball whether it is the new ball, a slightly older ball in the middle overs or even the old ball for that matter, He gives the Australians a run for their money, continuing with his statement, Steve Smith mentioned how great a bowler Bumrah is and arguably the best fast bowler across the three formats. Smith also spoke about the challenging task of facing Bumrah in the upcoming BGT and that, it will always be a challenge. The 35-year-old has been an opening batsman for Australia in the last couple of series and is expected to do the same again, against India. He is likely to cross the 10,000-run milestone in this high-profile series, having made 9685 runs so far as a veteran of 109 Tests.
On the other hand, Bumrah has been a great star since making his Test debut in January 2018, taking 164 wickets in 37 games. He is fresh off another top-quality performance, taking 5 wickets across the two innings against Bangladesh in the Chennai Test match, including the four scalps in the first innings. He indeed has incredible numbers across all three formats, with an average of, 23.55 in ODIs, 20.51 in Test cricket and an unbelievable 17.74 in the T20Is, where he has an economy rate of about 6.27 despite the bowling done in the least friendly and challenging situation, for any bowler. He was a significant player in India’s test series victories in 2018/19 and 2020/21 alike, held in Australia. He ended up finishing as India’s top-most wicket-taker; taking 21 wickets in 2019.
Bumrah and Smith are two of the finest players in the sport and have an even record against each other. Bumrah is at the top in their battle post the ODI World Cup final, trapping Smith with an LBW, but India was unable to take advantage, of that wicket. Their battle is sure to be a catalyst in deciding the outcomes of the upcoming series.