Bumrah’s fiery spell left Australia’s batting lineup in shambles on Day 1 of Perth Test.
He was in the commentary box when Bumrah was making the Australian batters dance to his tunes. Impressed by his mastery, Akram nearly jumped from his seat and referred the stand-in India skipper as the "best fast bowler" in the world.
"He is the best bowler in the world!" said Akram on-air. His fellow commentator and former Australia cricketer Kerry O'Keefe also echoed similar sentiments as he described Bumrah’s brilliance as "the most inspired spell of fast bowling by a captain."
After the close of plat on the opening day, Akram hailed Bumrah as the best bowler across all formats while also highlighting his ability to read situations and outthink the opposition.
"Bumrah was at the top of his game, reading the Australian batters brilliantly. His spell was a masterclass in understanding conditions and exploiting weaknesses," Akram told Star Sports.
"He is the best bowler in world cricket in all the formats. The control, the swing, the pace, using the crease, went around the wicket to Usman Khawaja. I mean, he's just a brilliant bowler to watch. He picked up the batter's weakness very quickly, and he hardly bowled a short ball, and he realised that he would be expecting a short pitch delivery. He pitched up everything, swung the ball both ways and got four wickets. That's what you call the leader leading from the front," he added.
India made a great comeback back after being bowled out for 150, claiming seven wickets in the final session to put themselves in the driver’s seat of the Perth Test.
Bumrah's bowling figures of 4 for 17 reduced the hosts to 67/7 at stumps, with Alex Carey (19*) and Mitchell Starc (6*) unbeaten in the middle.