Jasprit Bumrah Archives

Former South Africa batter compares Jasprit Bumrah to a ‘genie’

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has heaped praise on India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, likening him to a “genie” after the fast bowler delivered a decisive spell in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final against England.

Bumrah once again proved why he is regarded as one of the most lethal bowlers in world cricket, playing a pivotal role in India’s narrow seven-run victory in a high-scoring contest at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

Defending a daunting total of 253, India faced a tense finish as England mounted a fierce chase, largely powered by Jacob Bethell’s explosive century.

With 45 runs required off the final three overs, captain Suryakumar Yadav turned to Bumrah for the crucial 18th over.

The right-arm pacer responded with remarkable composure, delivering a mix of pinpoint yorkers and deceptive full deliveries that restricted England to just six runs in the over.

The tight spell ultimately swung the momentum back in India’s favour as England fell agonisingly short despite Bethell’s 105.

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Speaking after the match, Faf du Plessis described Bumrah as a dream weapon for any captain.

“Team India probably doesn’t realise how fortunate they are to have him,” du Plessis said.

“You just hand him the ball, and he finds a way to win matches for you. It’s a superpower every captain would want. It’s like having a genie, you rub the lamp, and Bumrah appears.”

The 32-year-old finished with figures of 1-33 in his four overs in a match that saw a combined total of 499 runs scored, highlighting the difficulty bowlers faced on the batting-friendly surface.

Du Plessis also pointed to Bumrah’s unconventional action as a key factor behind his effectiveness, noting that it makes it extremely difficult for batters to pick the ball early.

“Even when the batter knows what’s coming, a yorker or a slower ball, it’s still hard to line him up,” he explained. “His action is unique, and the ball comes out so quickly that batters struggle to react in time.”

READ: England skipper Harry Brook heaps high praise on Jacob Bethell

Jasprit Bumrah joins Shaheen Afridi in elite century list

CUTTACK: India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on Tuesday achieved a unique milestone during the first T20I against South Africa as he joined Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi in the 100-wickets club across all formats in international cricket.

Ahead of the first T20I, Bumrah stood at 99 T20I wickets in 80 matches.

The right-hander hit the landmark after scalping Dewald Brevis in the 10th over of the innings.

With this, the 30-year-old joined Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi, Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, New Zealand’s Tim Southee, and Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan.

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Notably, he is the first Indian to take 100 wickets in all formats— T20I, ODI, and Tests.

India’s highest wicket-takers in T20Is:

Arshdeep Singh – 107 wickets
Jasprit Bumrah – 101 wickets
Hardik Pandya – 99 wickets
Yuzvendra Chahal – 96 wickets
Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 90 wickets

Overall, Bumrah has taken 234 wickets in 52 Tests, 149 in 89 ODIs, and 101 in 81 T20Is. Currently, Arshdeep Singh is leading the wickets chart for India in T20Is with 107 wickets to his name.

Bowlers To Take 100 Wickets in Each Format

Tim Southee: 391 Tests, 221 ODIs, 164 T20Is

Lasith Malinga: 101 Tests, 338 ODIs, 107 T20Is

Shaheen Afridi: 121 Tests, 135 ODIs, 126 T20Is

Shakib Al Hasan: 246 Tests, 317 ODIs, 149 T20Is

Jasprit Bumrah: 234 Tests, 149 ODIs, 101 T20Is

Nonetheless, India crushed South Africa by 101 runs in the T20I series opener played here at the Barabati Stadium.

Set 176 under lights, South Africa’s explosive batting line was skittled for 74 in only 12.3 overs, thanks to a clinical bowling display from the Men in Blue.

Hardik Pandya delivered an all-round performance on his return to the side. The ace all-rounder first propelled his side to a winning score with an unbeaten 58* from 29 balls.

Later on, he also chipped in the ball and picked up a wicket, completing the rout of the visitors, which also slumped them to their record lowest total in the limited overs format.

READ: Pandya stars as India rout South Africa in T20I series opener

Bumrah claims five as India seize advantage in first South Africa Test

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah claimed a five-wicket haul as India bowled out South Africa for 159 on the opening day of the first cricket Test on Friday.

Electing to bat in Kolkata at the start of the two-match series, reigning world Test champions South Africa lost regular wickets and were bowled out in 55 overs.

In reply, India were 37-1 at stumps, trailing South Africa by 122 runs on a pitch that looked good for batting.

Left-arm quick Marco Jansen removed Yashasvi Jaiswal for 12 when the left-handed opener chopped a delivery onto his stumps.

With the red ball in use, even with the floodlights on, it grew so dark that play was halted early at the iconic Eden Gardens. KL Rahul was on 13, and left-handed Washington Sundar was on six.

The visitors had suffered a setback even before a ball was bowled when their premier fast bowler, Kagiso Rabada, was ruled out with a rib injury.

Rabada is under observation after he sustained the injury in the team’s first training session on Tuesday and failed a fitness test on the morning of the opener.

Bumrah, who took his 16th five-wicket haul in Test cricket, struck twice in the third over after tea.

After a 57-run stand between openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton, South Africa faltered against the Indian attack.

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Kuldeep Yadav — one of the four spinners in the Indian XI — and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj took two wickets each.

Opening batter Markram took 23 deliveries to get off the mark, but did so with a glorious straight drive for four off Siraj.

Spin was introduced in the eighth over with Axar Patel bowling his left-arm orthodox, but Markram kept up the attack.

Bumrah (5-27) broke the opening stand when he bowled left-hander Rickelton for 23 to raise the noise of a crowd of around 36,000.

Bumrah then produced a gem to send back Markram, caught behind for 31 on a rising ball that hit the glove, and returning wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant completed a diving catch.

Kuldeep kept up the bowling charge and had skipper Temba Bavuma caught at leg slip for three.

Wiaan Mulder and Tony de Zorzi — who both scored 24 — took the team past 100 and into lunch before Kuldeep trapped Mulder lbw with the batter attempting a reverse sweep off the left-arm wrist spinner.

Bumrah ended de Zorzi’s defiance l,bw and the batter, like Mulder, wasted a review. Both showed the ball hitting the stumps.

Wickets kept tumbling as Siraj picked two in the space of four balls, with Kyle Verreynne lbw for 16 and Jansen bowled for a duck.

READ: Asia Cup Rising Stars: 14-year-old Suryavanshi blasts record-breaking ton

WATCH: Jasprit Bumrah, Pant caught on stump mic calling Bavuma ‘dwarf’

KOLKATA: India pacer Jasprit Bumrah and wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant were caught on the stump mic with a surprising remark during the opening day of the first Test against South Africa here at the Eden Gardens on Friday.

Both players’ chat went viral as they called South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma ‘Bauna’ (Dwarf), a term referring to a person of short height.

The incident occurred during the 13th over, when Bumrah appealed for an LBW dismissal. The on-field umpire turned down the decision, prompting the Indian players to consider a referral.

During the discussion on whether to take a review, Bumrah was seen asking his compatriots about the ball hitting the stumps, and also mentioned the height of the Proteas skipper, stating, ‘Bauna bhi to hay yeh’.

The literal translation in English: ‘He is also a dwarf ‘, Bumrah said. Meanwhile, Pant also repeated this, stating,’ He [Temba Bavuma] is a dwarf, but where the ball has hit him.’

Eventually, the players decided not to go for the referral, a decision that later proved to be right as the ball had missed the stumps.

Yet, India were top at the end of day one as South Africa were folded for a mere 159 runs total.

Jasprit Bumrah starred with the ball, picking up his 16th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

In reply, the home side were 37/1 at the stumps with KL Rahul 13* off 59 alongside Washington Sundar, who made six from 38 balls.

READ: Why is Shaheen Afridi not playing second ODI against Sri Lanka?

Fakhar Zaman reveals plan to tackle Jasprit Bumrah in Asia Cup 2025 clash

DUBAI: Pakistan opening batter Fakhar Zaman opened up on his battle with India ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the highly anticipated Asia Cup 2025 clash.

Pakistan will square off against arch-rivals India for the first time since the escalation between both nations in May 2025.

Speaking ahead of the match, Fakhar praised Bumrah as an outstanding bowler, emphasizing conditions and an attacking mindset.

“He is definitely a world-class bowler, but in cricket, the situation matters—how the pitch is playing matters.

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So if the wicket is good and the conditions are in your favor, then no matter which bowler comes at you, you attack him. That will be our plan too,” Fakhar said in a video released by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on their social media handles.

“No matter how big a bowler someone is, or how many skills they have, if you attack them, they will definitely go on the back foot. Our plan will remain the same, and we will play according to the situation,” he stated.

For the unversed, Fakhar Zaman scored his match-winning century against India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final. Notably, it was Jasprit Bumrah’s no-ball that gave the left-hander a reprieve when he was batting on three runs.

Later on, Zaman went on to score a 114 off 106 balls, laced with three sixes and 12 fours.

Pakistan squad: Salman Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

READ: Ravichandran Ashwin names Pakistan’s potential game-changer against India

‘Nobody is indispensable’: Former India captain warns Jasprit Bumrah

Former India captain and legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has warned ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah about workload management ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 selection.

The decision to rest Bumrah in the recently concluded Test series against England has been a subject of debate. The right-arm pacer only played three Tests amid a workload management plan after recovering from an injury sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Now, with reports indicating Jasprit Bumrah’s availability for the Asia Cup 2025, Gavaskar has issued a blunt warning in his column for a news outlet.

“Nobody is indispensable. That’s why it is of prime importance for the selectors to now decide when Jasprit Bumrah should be playing,” he said.

“There’s already been a lot of debate about his appearances in the recently concluded series in England. To be fair, he had informed the selection committee that he could play only three Tests out of the five,” the former captain added.

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Sunil Gavaskar also criticized the decision to rest Jasprit Bumrah in the all-important fifth match of the series, where the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy was at stake for Team India.

“The debate that has generated some heat is whether he should have played the last must-win Test match, especially since it was the grassiest pitch at the Oval in a long time. The next Test match was in early October, and so there were two clear months for him to rest and recover in time for that,” Gavaskar wrote.

“The Indian team management stated that he wasn’t picked considering his future. This is where the lines between what is good for the individual and what is good for Indian cricket got a little blurred,” he said.

The 76-year-old further remarked that no player is irreplaceable; if Bumrah had been fit, he should have played the final Test match.

“Surely at that stage, if he was fit, then for Indian cricket’s sake, he had to play. Whether then it was his call or the management’s call not to play is not known, but in the end, after India’s win it showed once again, if ever there was need to know that nobody is indispensable in the game. The game just moves on,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.

READ: Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj likely to miss out on Asia Cup selection: report

Jasprit Bumrah confirms availability to selectors for Asia Cup 2025: reports

India ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah has shown readiness for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, several Indian Media outlets reported on Sunday.

According to the reports, Bumrah spoke to the selectors a couple of days ago about his availability for the marquee event.

“Bumrah has informed the selectors that he will be available for the Asia Cup selection. The selection committee will meet and discuss it when they meet next week,” a BCCI source confirmed.

To manage Jasprit Bumrah’s workload in mind, the Indian team management decided to include the right-arm pacer in only three of the five Test matches against England.

The 31-year-old featured in the first, third, and fourth Test of the series. Overall, Jasprit Bumrah bowled 119.4 overs and scalped two-wicket hauls.

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It is noteworthy to mention that Jasprit Bumrah’s last appearance for the T20I team came against South Africa in the 2024 World Cup final, where he played a pivotal role in India’s triumph.

The reports further mentioned that the India selectors are set to meet before the finalization of India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2025.

Moreover, team India will arrive early in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the Asia Cup 2025

“The BCCI had asked team management whether they were in favour of a short camp in Bengaluru. However, the team management felt that it would be better to fly early so that players could get used to the conditions,” the report quoted.

“Instead of having a camp here, the team will fly three-four days early so that they can get decent practice before the tournament starts,” the source said.

For the unversed, the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup will be held in the UAE and played in the T20 format, serving as a key build-up to the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

The tournament will feature eight teams split into two groups. Group A comprises Pakistan, India, the UAE, and Oman, while Group B includes Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong.

READ: Aqib Javed backs Pakistan to beat India in Asia Cup 2025

Former Australia wicket-keeper questions Jasprit Bumrah’s match-winning impact

Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has raised questions on the match-winning impact of Jasprit Bumrah in the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, suggesting that India’s pace spearhead didn’t quite deliver when it truly mattered.

Speaking on a YouTube podcast, Haddin acknowledged Bumrah’s undeniable quality but highlighted his failure to lead India to victory in any of the Tests he played.

“India can take a lot from this; they can still compete without Bumrah. Life goes on. The other bowlers found a way. India has so much bowling talent,” said Haddin.

“But Bumrah didn’t win a Test match. Siraj stood up when it mattered. His workload was just as heavy, and he delivered when India needed him most.”

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For the unversed, Jasprit Bumrah featured in three Tests, picking up 14 wickets. Meanwhile, his fellow pacer Mohammed Siraj stole the show during the final Test at The Oval.

Siraj’s sensational match haul was the first by a visiting bowler to claim nine or more wickets at the venue since Shane Warne’s iconic 12-wicket performance in 2005.

“Siraj enjoys being the leader of the attack,” Haddin added. “He’s the kind of guy who wants the ball in big moments. Sure, he makes mistakes, but he never hides from the occasion.”

“You want players like that, players who embrace the pressure and take the challenge head-on. He wanted the ball in that last hour of play. There’s no doubt in my mind, he wanted to bowl every over to win that game.”

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Gautam Gambhir keeps Jasprit Bumrah decision open ahead of fifth England Test

MANCHESTER: India head coach Gautam Gambhir remained tight-lipped over the inclusion of Jasprit Bumrah for the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England, scheduled to begin on July 31 at The Oval.

With England leading the five-match series 2-1, India will head into the decider aiming to level the series, following a gritty draw in the fourth Test where the visitors batted out five sessions under pressure.

There had been concerns around Bumrah’s workload heading into the final leg of the series, especially given his central role across formats.

But Gautam Gambhir confirmed that the pace spearhead, along with the rest of the fast bowlers, is fully fit.

“All the fast bowlers are fit. There are no injury concerns,” Gambhir stated during the post-match press conference.

However, he remained non-committal when asked if the management would stick to the original workload management plan or reconsider given the series situation.

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“We haven’t had any conversation around the combination for the last Test. No decision has been made on whether Jasprit Bumrah will play or not. Ultimately, whoever plays, they will try and do the job for the country,” he added.

Reflecting on the drawn fourth Test, Gambhir lauded the team’s fight but made it clear that results remain the ultimate benchmark.

“You are asking someone who only believes in results. We are still 2-1 down in the series,” he said.

“Yes, there is inexperience, but this is still the best Indian team right now. Hopefully, we can make it 2-2. That’s going to be a good achievement.”

He credited the batting unit for showing character under pressure and backed his side to bring the fight to The Oval.

“Batting for five sessions after being put under pressure shows great character. Going into The Oval, we’ll take a lot of confidence,” he concluded.

India squad for fifth England Test

Shubman Gill (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Anshul Kamboj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur

READ: Rishabh Pant’s replacement named for fifth England Test

India coach reveals major hint on Jasprit Bumrah’s inclusion for fourth Test

Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has provided a major update on the inclusion of ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the India playing XI for the fourth Test against England, set to commence on 23 July at Old Trafford.

Before the start of the five-match Test series against England, the Indian team management outlined a workload management plan for Jasprit Bumrah, allowing him to feature in only three of the five Test matches.

The precautionary major of including Bumrah in the India Playing XI was taken in light of his back surgery after the Border-Gavaskar series.

Due to ace pacer’s fitness concerns, the Indian team management decided to play him in the opening and third Test against England. The right-arm pacer has been phenomenal for India, taking 12 scalps in four innings in the series so far.

Now, Ten Doeschate has hinted at Jasprit Bumrah’s inclusion in the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford with the series on the line.

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“No, we’ll make that call [on Jasprit Bumrah] in Manchester still,” he said after the squad’s one-off training session in Beckenham.

“We know we have got him for one of the last two Tests. It’s pretty obvious that the series on the line now in Manchester so there will be a leaning towards playing him,” he added.

Ryan Ten Doeschate emphasized the selection call and India’s winning chance in the fourth Test.

“But again, we have got to look at all the factors: how many days of cricket are we going to get up there, what do we feel is our best chance of winning that game, and then how that fits in together with The Oval. And looking at the last two games holistically as part of the series,” the Assistant coach concluded.

Adding to India’s bowling woes ahead of the fourth Test, the visitors suffered an injury scare in the shape of Arshdeep Singh.

The left-arm pacer, who is yet to play in the Test series, sustained a cut on one of his fingers on the bowling hand while intercepting the ball in his follow-through during training.

For the unversed, England are 2-1 in the newly renamed Anderson-Tendulkar trophy after winning a thriller at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

READ: Pakistan Champions carry out first training session for WCL 2025