Follow UsFormer India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar compared Jasprit Bumrah to the late Bollywood icon Dilip Kumar. Manjrekar said another Bollywood superstar, Aamir Khan, once told him Dilip Kumar had no weaknesses, which is also the case with India’s ace paceman Bumrah.
"I spent one evening with Aamir Khan and we were talking about Dilip Kumar. So I asked him that 'we don't understand from the outside what is so great about Dilip Kumar'. Aamir thought about it for a while and then eventually said, 'He had no weakness'. That's Bumrah for you," Manjrekar said on Star Sports show 'Deep Point'.
Bumrah was recently named ICC Cricketer of the Year and ICC Men's Test Cricketer for the Year for 2024. He dominated the bowling charts throughout the year. Despite not playing the ODI format in 2024, Bumrah proved he is one of the finest in the game by reaching 200 Test wickets with a bowling average below 20.
He is not only the number one ranked Test bowler in the world but also the first Indian bowler to cross the 900-point rating mark.
In the shortest format, he spearheaded India’s campaign at the T20 World Cup 2024 in West Indies and the United States of America and picked up 15 wickets at a stunning average of 8.26 and economy rate of just 4.17!
The 31-year-old was also the Player of the Tournament. He was almost unplayable when he arrived at the death in the World Cup final and shifted the momentum towards India decisively after the Proteas had taken control of the chase.
In Test cricket, he scalped 71 wickets in just 13 Tests, the highest for any bowler in 2024. In the 2023-2025 World Test Championship Cycle, he had 77 wickets, a record for a pacer in a single cycle.
Bumrah is also at the height of his popularity worldwide, with the world-famous band Coldplay even singing a custom-made song for him in their recently held Ahmedabad show.
Bumrah is recovering from a back injury but has been named in India's squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy, starting on February 19.