Jasprit Bumrah starred with the ball in India’s 295-run victory over Australia in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at the Optus Stadium, Perth.
The right-arm quick, who stepped in as captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma, made the Aussie batters dance to his tunes, returning with eight-wicket haul (8-72) in the match.
For his match-winning exploits, Bumrah is receiving praises from all quarters. Recently, former England pacer Steven Finn reserved big praise for the Indian star, hailing him as the best player in the world at the moment.
“Jaiswal scored that brilliant 161. But the player that I loved watching and that I think is actually the best player in the world, bar none at the moment, is Jasprit Bumrah. He is just—he’s a joke, honestly. You watch him bowl, and you just think, I’m glad that I don’t have to strap my pads on," Finn said on TNT Sports while reviewing India’s performance in the first Test.
After getting bowled out for 150 in the first innings of Perth Test, India made a stunning comeback. Riding on Bumrah’s fifer (5-30), the visitors bundled out the Aussies for a paltry 104 to gain a handy 46-run lead.
The Indian batting line-up responded brilliantly in the second dig, with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal (161), KL Rahul (77) and Virat Kohli (100*) registering big scores to propel the tourists to 487/6 (declared).
Setting a colossal 534-run target for Australia, the Indian bowlers produced another masterclass to skittle Pat Cummins' men out for just 238. Bumrah starred with the ball once again as he took three wickets (3-42).
As a result of his Player-of-the-Match performance, Jasprit Bumrah regained the top spot in the ICC Men’s Test Rankings for bowlers.
Former England captain Alastair Cook, who was also part of the show, said he was taken aback by India’s dominating performance in Perth,
“I was surprised that India have gone there (Australia) and hammered Australia in what normally is a very hard place to go and play cricket. Perth, I know it’s not the WACA; I know it’s the new stadium, but still, historically, Australia don’t lose many games there. I thought India was so brave."
The second Test between India and Australia is slated to be held in Adelaide, which will be played with the pink-ball from December 6.
