Legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin chose Jasprit Bumrah over Virat Kohli during a rapid-fire "this or that" elimination grid to pick the greatest Indian cricketer.
While Ashwin eventually crowned Sachin Tendulkar as the ultimate winner of the bracket, his head-to-head choice between Kohli and Bumrah sparked significant discussion among cricket fans.
Ashwin openly struggled with the choice, heavily weighing Kohli's legendary status, cross-format dominance, and incredible Test career before making his final decision.
He ultimately picked Bumrah by narrowing the context down, noting that in the specific framework of "one tournament" or match-winning impact, he would lean toward the premier fast bowler.
“Goodness gracious me. Test cricket. Virat is an absolute legend. He's done so well. It's one tournament. I'll go with Jasprit Bumrah, man,” Ashwin said during the interaction with ESPNcricinfo.
Ashwin humorously admitted to a natural "bowler's bias" behind the decision. “Maybe there's a bit of a partiality. I'll pick Jasprit Bumrah.”
In of the rounds, Ashwin admitted to being "seriously tempted" to pick his former India spin partner, Ravindra Jadeja, before ultimately sticking with MS Dhoni for his unmatched captaincy credentials and multi-format longevity.
“Oh, my goodness. Dhoni vs Ravindra Jadeja. Very tempting to go to Jadeja,” Ashwin said. “But Captaincy, ODI, Test cricket. He's got his credentials. Led the team to, I think, number one ranking and all. So, I'll stick with MS. Very close for me. I was very tempted to go for Ravindra Jadeja for a wee bit of time.”
However, Dhoni's run was cut short when Ashwin selected the explosive opener Virender Sehwag to advance past him.
“My goodness. Virender Sehwag,” Ashwin said. Earlier, he had preferred Sehwag over Sunil Gavaskar. “Oh gosh, across formats. Virender Sehwag. That's unfair. That's unfair to Sunil Gavaskar.”
Ashwin also picked Sachin Tendulkar ahead of Vijay Hazare, Kohli ahead of Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid ahead of Vinoo Mankad and Bumrah over Anil Kumble in the initial round.
When his own name was pitted against Sourav Ganguly, Ashwin backed the former India captain. “Oh, my God. I'll pick Sourav Ganguly. Let me be absolutely safe.”
From there, Tendulkar went past Ganguly, Kapil Dev pipped Dravid, Sehwag knocked over Dhoni, and Bumrah eliminated Kohli to complete the semi-final line-up. Tendulkar then beat Sehwag, while Bumrah’s run was ended by Kapil.
Ashwin's bracket ended with Sachin Tendulkar defeating Kapil Dev in the final round to take the ultimate crown. “Personal bias should count at some stage. I'll go with Sachin Tendulkar,” he said.
