Even though India ended up losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-3, ICC Hall of Famer Ricky Ponting believes pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s exploits are not only the best he has seen from a visiting bowler in Australia, but also probably the best fast bowling display of all time. The 31-year-old Indian quick was named Player of the Series for his relentless bowling that seriously bothered the Australian batsmen. Bumrah finished as the leading wicket-taker in the five-Test series with an incredible tally of 32 scalps.
During his iconic career, Bumrah also surpassed former India captain Kapil Dev to hold the record for most Test wickets by an Indian in Australia – 64 wickets at 17:15 compared to Kapil’s 51 at 24:58.
“Without a doubt, it is probably the best series of fast bowling I have ever seen. Yes, they had good conditions, the fast bowlers, for most of this series. But when you saw him (Bumrah) play compared to anyone else in the series, he made batting look a lot more difficult,” ICC quoted Ponting as saying on Sunday.
“There is also a lot of quality batting in the Australian top order, but he made all of them at different times look foolish,” he added.
Bumrah also surpassed Bishen Singh Bedi’s tally of 31 scalps to become India’s highest wicket-taker in a Test series in Australia. However, he did not bowl in Australia’s second innings after leaving the field on Day 2 to undergo scans for back spasms.
“A little frustrating, but sometimes you have to respect your body and you can’t fight it. Sometimes you have to accept. I would have loved to bowl on the hottest wicket of the series. I just had a little discomfort after the first innings,” Bumrah said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
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