R Ashwin Drops Bitter Jasprit Bumrah Truth With Blunt 'Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar Remark'

NDTV

8 hours ago

India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah unarguably stands the tallest of all players in his category in modern cricket. Be it T20 cricket or Tests, Bumrah's execution, precision, and tenacity make him a nightmare for every batter in the game. While there's no denying that world-class tag that Bumrah has or the respect he gets around the world, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin doesn't think the seamer gets the same respect that Indian cricket fans honoured the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma with.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Ashwin was asked if Bumrah is a player every team in the world would want to have. Ashwin didn't directly respond to the question but beautifully narrated how highly he rates the pacer.
"I have praised him a lot. But the word you said will not come out of my mouth. But the point is, he is fabulous. That's all I want to leave. He was born in this world. All these things become a soap opera. I am not one of those drama artists. I don't want to market anyone. But he is a fabulous cricketer," Ashwin said.
"I really wish that we go that route (In giving Bumrah the same respect as Tendulkar and Kohli). I am still saying that as much as we do for Rohit Sharma, or Virat Kohli, or Sachin Tendulkar, we don't do the same for Jassi. Definitely more than what a bowler usually has. He's got a lot of respect. He's got a lot of fans. A lot of people love him. I am his number one fan. Maybe his wife could be number one, competing for it. I am his number one fan," Ashwin further said.
One of the trickiest things for a batter while facing Bumrah is his action. Bumrah's bowling style does make it difficult for batters to read him, but for Ashwin, it's the pacer's execution that made him his No. 1 fan.
"He is on a different pedestal. He is in a different world. And the problem is, it's not about the uniqueness of his action. It is about the quality of execution. How does he execute? The way he troubled Joe Root in the first innings, proper. Joe Root was not able to pick the length. The ball was a little far. He could have played the rest of the bowlers in the backfoot, would have tapped it to third man. But not to Bumrah.
"He came forward. Because he was worried about the ball nipping back in. And he didn't pick the length. He chased it a little. It went in the slip. He is just a fabulous bowler. The ball of Zak Crawley in the first innings, how many can he bowl that? He is almost past the vertical. From there, he dropped it in the middle stump. He has taken that out. That needs great awareness, great wrist position, quality execution, and an unbelievable amount of work to try and keep his body in that shape to do this," Ashwin added.
"He is on a different plane altogether. And I would be very proud to say I played with Jassi. I batted against Jassi. I was in a team with Jassi. And I have seen some fabulous victories. And I have played together with him. He is one of the legends. He is right up there. If not, better than some of the batters in our country."