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R Ashwin says Jasprit Bumrah is better than most Indian batters
By SMCS - Jun 27, 2025 8:40 am
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India lost the first Test of the five-match Test series against England, where Jasprit Bumrah is the only positive in India’s bowling attack. He also became the only Asian cricketer to have picked 150 Test wickets in the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and England) countries, surpassing Wasim Akram, Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan and Waqar Younis. However, former India spinner R Ashwin said that Bumrah is “one of the greatest to have played in his era.”

Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah

“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,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

However, R Ashwin also said that he had no hesitation in rating Bumrah “above” a lot of Indian batters. He even added that Bumrah doesn’t get the same elevation as Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma as well.

READ HERE: “He is like a computer” – Steven Finn hails Jasprit Bumrah after his fifer on Day 3

“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,” R Ashwin said.

However, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are all great batters who are considered the greatest cricketers of all time list but Bumrah is perhaps the only Indian pace bowler who would feature in the top half of that list as well. He also said that bowlers usually don’t get the same amount of attention as a batter of the same quality would.

Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah

“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 stated.

“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,” R Ashwin further added.

READ HERE: Jasprit Bumrah Opens Up On Dropped Catches Against England

However, Jasprit Bumrah, who has already claimed 210 wickets at an average of 19.60 – the lowest among all bowlers to have taken more than 200 Test wickets as well.

“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,” R Ashwin concluded.