Follow UsJasprit Bumrah is the only bowler in Test cricket history to pick 200 or more Test wickets at an average of below 20. Meanwhile, Wasim Akram is an all-time great who has 916 international wickets in Tests and ODIs combined at an average of 23.62 and 23.52 in the two formats, respectively.
With these numbers and the impact both of these two all-time great fast bowlers have, it’s only natural that fans would compare the two. However, as far as Wasim Akram is concerned, he doesn’t rate such comparisons at all. In fact, on Geo TV’s show ‘Haarna Mana Hai’, he said doing such comparisons is like being “Begano ki shadi me abdullah deewana” (showing unsolicited interest in someone else’s affairs) as both Bumrah and he don’t care about such activities.
“Jasprit Bumrah is a wonderful bowler. He has an odd action, has pace, and credit to the Indian cricket board for the way they manage him and their mindset. Comparisons between the 90s and now are impossible,” Akram said, as quoted by News 18.
“He is right-handed and I am a left-armer. We keep social media debates—Begano ki Shadi Me Abdulla Diwana. Neither I care nor he cares. They are fighting among themselves. He is a modern-day great. I was in my era. I did my job. He is a very impressive bowler, I must say.”
Meanwhile, former Indian pacer Varun Aaron brought up Bumrah’s record in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries, where he went past Akram recently, and said that the Indian speedster is as good as Akram, if not better.
“Calling him a genius would be an understatement. He has now gone past Wasim Akram in terms of wickets taken in SENA countries,” Aaron said on the same show.
“That says it all for me because Wasim was arguably the best fast bowler to walk the face of the earth—and Bumrah is pretty much the same, if not better."
Bumrah will now be featuring for India in the Asia Cup in a few days.