With his decisive spell against England in the T20 World Cup semi-final on Thursday, Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah showed why he is counted among the best in business. With England batsman Jacob Bethell in rampaging form, Bumrah accounted for just ten runs in his last two overs including six runs in the 18th over during England’s chase of the 254-run target. England would eventually fall short by seven runs and Bumrah’s 18th over paved the way for India’s win. Former England pacers Steve Finn and Stuart Broad have now counted Bumrah to be best bowler in the world at present with Broad even terming Bumrah as the ‘best quick bowler ever’. “Everyone else is mortal. There’s great bowlers, there’s good bowlers, but then there’s Jasprit Bumrah who sits above all of them at the moment, and I include people like [Pat] Cummins, [Mitchell] Starc. I think he is just on another planet to any other bowler in the world at the moment,” Finn said on the podcast for the love of cricket. Replying to Finn’s comment, Broad was quick to share, “He could arguably, you could put a really strong argument that he’s the best quick bowler ever.” Bumrah had played a stellar part during India’s title winning campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The Indian pacer had claimed 15 wickets in the tournament to be adjudged as the player of the tournament, Bumrah picked up the 15 wickets at an average of 8.26 and at an economy rate of 4.17. Bumrah had become only the second bowler in T20 World Cup history to claim the player of the tournament award. Finn shared how he had written an article for BBC last year terming Bumrah as the best pacer ever and fans told him that West Indies great Malcolm Marshall was ‘miles better’. “Well, I wrote an article last summer saying that, for the BBC, like gave my reasons, statistics, everything. Um, and I had a lot of angry 50 and 60-year-olds telling me that Malcolm Marshall was miles better,” Finn added. Agreeing with Finn that Bumrah is the best ever pacer, Broad shared he sees Bumrah as the best ever bowler that he has seen live and how he would lean on Finn’s article to term Bumrah as the ‘best’. “Yeah, Malcolm Marshall, (Richard] Hadlee, or, you know, for me, (Curtly) Ambrose, all these (Glenn] McGrath), all these guys. It’s difficult because we didn’t see Malcolm Marshall in a T20 World Cup semifinal where the ball was flying to all parts and I think I would lean on your article and it’s (Bumrah’s bowling) certainly the best I’ve ever seen live, that is for sure,” Broad added. Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis had also showered praise on Bumrah for his ability to dominate batsmen and help India win. “It’s a superpower that any captain dreams of. It’s like having a genie; you just rub the lamp, and out comes (Jasprit) Bumrah. Team India doesn’t understand how fortunate they are to have him. It’s shown time and time again, no matter the format – just give him the ball, and he wins you games,” du Plessis said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show.
T20 World Cup: ‘You could put a really strong argument that he’s the best quick bowler ever’ – Stuart Broad’s praise for Jasprit Bumrah
