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Having earned kudos across the cricketing world for his bowling performances, even Jasprit Bumrah would not have expected this kind of praise with a former Australian batting star reckoning that legendary batter Don Bradman would not have reached such peaks if he had faced a bowler of Bumrah's class.
Bumrah showed his mettle in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy also in which he got 32 wickets in five matches at a stunning average of 13.06, with three five-wicket hauls and best figures of 6/76. He was the highest wicket-taker in the series and broke record after record in the five-match affair, becoming the Indian with the most Test fifers in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and South Africa) and outdoing spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi to have most wickets by an Indian in an away series. Speaking during the Club Prairie Fire podcast which featured also featured former England captain Michael Vaughan, Gilchrist said no number befits Bumrah's status in sports. "I am not rating him, no number befitting what he is in world sport. He would have ripped on Bradman's peak in the matter of balls. It would have been much further south of 99 [Bradman's batting average ] that he sits at (if he faced Bumrah]. I would give Donald 35 out of Bumrah (in terms of batting average). You cannot have a reward that is high enough for him." Vaughan rated Bumrah's performance as 10/10. Bumrah had a phenomenal 2024. Mohammed Siraj's post-match interview after T20 World Cup final saying 'I only believe on Jassi bhai, game changer player he is' summarises the country's love affair with the pace spearhead. Be it his 19 wickets during England's home series on largely unhelpful surfaces at an average of 16.89 in four matches, his 'Player of the Tournament' winning T20 WC title-capturing performance with 15 crucial scalps at an average of 8.26 or his workhorse, once-in-a-generation run in BGT, Bumrah has captured the imagination of people in cricket-loving India. Bumrah was the leading-wicket-taker in international cricket last year, with 86 wickets in 21 matches at an average of 13.76, with four four-wicket hauls and five five-wicket hauls and best figures of 6/45. Also in a disappointing IPL 2024 for five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI), he topped the charts with 20 scalps in 13 matches at an average of 16.80 and one fifer. (ANI)
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