Follow UsBetween the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney and the first Test against England at Headingley, Jasprit Bumrah spent three months not bowling a single ball, being kept out of the field by a back injury.
However, he’s since returned and had an all-time great IPL season, and followed it up with yet another five-wicket haul in Tests. Bumrah is now the leading wicket-taker among Asians in SENA countries, and his bowling average of 19.33 is the best among all bowlers in history who have taken over 200 Test wickets.
Across formats, Bumrah seems to now pick up wickets for fun every time he’s given the ball. He’s indomitable, unplayable and just an unstoppable force of nature.
Given how dominant he is in every single format, former England cricketer Steven Finn believes Bumrah is the best fast bowler to have ever played cricket.
“In a climate where the disparity between the Test and T20 formats for bowlers is becoming wider and requiring a differing range of skills, Bumrah is the best in both,” Finn wrote in his column for BBC Sport.
“Bumrah is a thinker about the game and would have been India's first choice as the new Test captain has it not been for his struggle to play in every match. He took the decision himself to not pursue the job as he did not feel it was fair on the team.
“We're lucky to be in an era of great fast bowlers. From recent international retirees Stuart Broad and James Anderson, to Kagiso Rabada, Cummins, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.
“Bumrah sits atop of them all as the finest fast bowler to have played the game. Some accolade.”
Dissecting the greatness of Bumrah, Finn wrote how the Indian speedster is one of a kind, purely because he is someone whose mystery can never be decoded or solved.
“A batter could watch as many hours of Bumrah footage as they like, yet still be surprised when they face him. There is no 'tell' as to what he is going to bowl. No change of arm path, no change of finger position. A batter can only rely on reacting to what is coming their way,” Finn wrote.
Finn further expressed his disbelief over how consistently Bumrah manages to impact games of cricket.
“Outside of the technical elements of Bumrah's bowling action, I don't think there has been a fast bowler in history able to affect matches so consistently,” the former England bowler wrote.
“He is like a computer constantly calibrating what is needed in any given situation, and he is able to implement almost exactly what he wants to with absolute precision.”