Bumrah is widely regarded as the best fast bowler in the world across formats.
India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been bowling brilliantly ever since his comeback to international cricket following the back surgery.
The right-arm quick played an instrumental role in India’s Asia Cup 2023 triumph and then made the batters dance to his tunes in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup last year.
Bumrah carried on his brilliance to Test cricket on the tour of South Africa and in the home series against England. To top it all, he was declared Player-of-the-Tournament in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 victory after finishing the competition with 15 wickets at an economy rate of 4.50.
Such has been the impact of Bumrah that veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently hailed him as the most valuable Indian cricketer ahead of star batters such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Ashwin recalled Bumrah's recent visit to Chennai for an event where he received Rajnikanth-type treatment from the fans.
"We Chennai people appreciate bowlers a lot. He was here for an event as a chief guest 4-5 days ago. We gave him a Rajni treatment. We (Chennai people) treat bowlers very nicely. He should be treated as a champion. I don’t want to name, but Jasprit Bumrah is the most valuable Indian cricketer right now," Ashwin said on Vimal Kumar's YouTube channel.
Ashwin is happy that Bumrah has received recognition for his talent in a batter-dominant country but he wants the Indian fans to celebrate the ace pacer even more.
"India has always been the country that is a batsman-dominated country, and it’s never going to change. But I am so glad and happy that we are celebrating Jasprit Bumrah. Jasprit Bumrah is a once-in-a-generation bowler. We should celebrate him even more," he added.
Jasprit Bumrah was last seen in action during the T20 World Cup 2024 in June. He was rested to manage workload during the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka last month.
Bumrah is all set to lead the Indian pace attack in the upcoming Test against Bangladesh, starting on September 19 in Chennai.