Our Bureau
New Delhi
Jasprit Bumrah is undoubtedly amongst the best bowlers that India has ever produced, if not simply the best. Recently, in one of his YouTube videos, former Indian cricketer Akash Chopra was talking about the incident when Pakistan’s legendary bowler Waqar Younis praised Bumrah and hailed him as the best bowler that the world has ever seen.
Chopra recalled how he met Younis in a car and asked him if Bumrah is the right-hand version of the legendary bowler and Younis’s partner in crime with the ball, Wasim Akram. But to Chopra’s surprise Younis stated that Bumrah is even better than all of them. He highlighted the intelligence, skill and thought process that the Indian pacer has is incomparable to them.
“We were in a car. Waqar Younis was with me. I asked him, ‘The entire cricket world has respect for Wasim Akram for the variations in his bowling and the control he possessed. He was par excellence. Bumrah is like the right-handed Wasim Akram, right?’ He replied, ‘No, he is better than all of us. We didn’t have this thinking level at his age. His skill is better, his thinking is better. He is the best that the world has ever seen’,” Chopra revealed in a video on his YouTube channel.
Throughout the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, there was a lot of chatter around Bumrah’s unavailability in all the matches of the series. The star pacer was only available for three matches because of his ‘Workload Management’ and it was announced even before the tour started. Chopra emphasized that to him it didn’t matter for how many matches Bumrah was available, India needed him to play those as he is the best bowler in the world at the moment across formats.
“He is the best bowler in the world right now across formats. If Bumrah plays only three matches, let him play. If workload management says that, without breaking down, I can keep Bumrah playing in important matches, I will do whatever it takes,” Chopra said.
