Bumrah has been the best all-format bowler for past 5-6 years: Ponting

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has lavished praise on Jasprit Bumrah and has hailed the team India talisman as the best all-format bowler of the past five years, lauding the right-armer’s consistency, impact and x-factor across formats.

Two months ago, Bumrah was the Player of the Tournament in India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign but was also the best bowler of the series in India’s last Test assignment against England, where he finished with 19 wickets at an average of 16.89 in three matches.

Prior to that, Bumrah was one of the best bowlers in the 50-over World Cup, too, where he picked up 20 wickets in 11 games at an astounding economy of 4.06, by a distance the best among all pacers in the competition.

“I've said it for a long time, he's probably been the best multi-format bowler there's been in world cricket for the last five or six years,” Ponting said in the ICC Review.

A stress fracture he suffered in late 2022 ruled Bumrah out of action for nearly a year. In this period, the right-armer also missed the 2022 T20 World Cup in which India were humiliated by England in the semi-final.

There were fears that the stress fracture - which, by the way, was the second back stress fracture he suffered in the space of three years - would derail his career, but that couldn't have been farther from the truth. According to Ponting, Bumrah, if anything, has been even better than his old self since returning from injury.

“There might have been some fears a couple of years ago when the injuries come in and ‘would he come back the same?’, but I think he's actually come back better,” Ponting said.

“If I watch what he did in the T20 World Cup – the pace is still there, there's nothing that's changed with the accuracy or what he can deliver. The skillset is all the same. He's getting better year on year.”

Ponting believes that the way opposition players talk about Bumrah itself is a testament to the 30-year-old’s greatness.

“The greatest way to always get a real gauge on these players is by asking (other) players,” Ponting said.

“And when you talk to opposition batsmen about him (Bumrah) in particular, it's always, 'No, he's a nightmare! You never know what's going to happen. One's going to swing, one's going to seam, he's going to bowl an in-swinger, he's going to bowl an out-swinger. And the consistency is there.’

“So when you've got that skillset and the consistency that he has, then you're going to be a great player.”

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