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 Australian legend Ricky Ponting recently hailed him as the best multi-format bowler in the world.

“I’ve said it for a long time; he’s probably been the best multi-format bowler there’s been in world cricket for the last five or six years,” Ponting said in the ICC Review.

“There might have been some fears a couple of years ago when the injuries come in and ‘would he come back the same?’, but I think he’s actually come back better,” he added.

“If I watch what he did in the T20 World Cup, the pace is still there; there’s nothing that’s changed with the accuracy or what he can deliver. The skillset is all the same. He’s getting better year by year. So, he would rank right up there,” he further stated.

The former Australia skipper also went on to draw parallels with Jasprit Bumrah to legends like Glenn McGrath and James Anderson.

“The greatest way to always get a real gauge on these players is by asking (other) players,” Ponting said.

“And when you talk to opposition batsmen about him (Bumrah) in particular, it’s always, ‘No, he’s a nightmare! You never know what’s going to happen. One’s going to swing, one’s going to seam; he’s going to bowl an in-swinger; he’s going to bowl an out-swinger. And the consistency is there.’

“So when you’ve got that skillset and the consistency that he has, then you’re going to be a great player. Look at (Glenn) McGrath, look at (James) Anderson, these guys, their longevity and their skills being able to hold up for such a long period of time is what separates them from the rest.”

Jasprit Bumrah is currently managing his workload. He didn’t travel with the Indian team to Sri Lanka for the white-ball series. The ace pacer is likely to return to action during the home Test series against Bangladesh next month.