Brian Lara Calls Jasprit Bumrah A 'GOAT', Puts Rohit Sharma A Tier Below At...
Brian Lara considers Jasprit Bumrah worthy of GOAT status alongside Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, and Jacques Kallis. He put Rohit Sharma a tier below.
West Indies great Brian Lara has labeled Jasprit Bumrah as a talent worthy of the GOAT — Greatest of all time — status, alongside Australians Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist and South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis. He put another four names in a tier below, 'Legend': former England captain Kevin Pietersen, Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, New Zealand batter Kane Williamson and India ODI skipper Rohit Sharma.
In an interview with Stick To Cricket, Lara was given these nine names and asked to put them in the tier list with 'GOAT' as the highest, 'Legend' as the second, and 'Great' as the third. Lara didn't put anyone in the third level.
Bumrah made his international debut in 2016 and has since risen through the ranks to become arguably the best all-format bowler in the world. In Tests, he is the only one with over 200 wickets (213) at a sub-20 average, has already led India to a T20 World Cup title (2024) and the Mumbai Indians to several IPL trophies, while also putting many world-beating performances in ODIs (overall 149 wickets at a staggering 23.55).
Meanwhile, Rohit has retired from both T20Is and Tests. He has a rich legacy across formats, too: in Tests as someone who transformed his game from a middle-order underwhelming star to one of the best openers in the fag end of his career, in ODIs as a Champions Trophy-winning captain and one of the greatest openers of all time and in T20Is as a World Cup-winning skipper.
Will Jasprit Bumrah play the third Test in Manchester?
All eyes are on Bumrah in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India are trailing the series 2-1 and will play at Manchester in the fourth Test. They would not want to leave out their best bowler in Jasprit Bumrah but given his workload concerns, playing him here might mean dropping him for the final game.
'We'll make that call in Manchester still," India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said about that subject recently. 'We know we've got him for one of the last two Tests. I think it's pretty obvious the series is on the line in Manchester, so there will be a leaning towards playing him. But again, we've look at all the factors, how many days of cricket are we going to get up there? What do we feel is our best chance of winning that game? And then how that fits in together with the Oval, and looking at the last two games holistically as part of the series."
The Test starts on July 23.
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July 18, 2025, 22:18 IST
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