Former Australian cricketer Brad Haddin lauded Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and compared his performances with legendary Aussie spinner Shane Warne’s Ashes campaign against England in 2005. Bumrah had an all-time great Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign, taking 32 scalps in five matches, most by an Indian during an away series, at an average of 13.06 and best figures of 6/76. He took a total of three five-wicket hauls and was given the ‘Player of the Series’ award. Despite his superhuman effort and fight, India could not win the trophy.
Speaking on the Willow Talk podcast, Haddin said, “We have witnessed the greatness of Bumrah, the uniqueness of his action and how influential he was on every batter in the Australian team. It’s in the same conversation as Warney’s 2005 Ashes (40 wickets in the series despite England’s win). That is exactly what it deserves. If he’s not there, Australia would probably win 5-0.”
“By the time he finishes his career, we will be talking about him in the same breath as McGrath and Wasim Akram. He was so influential over the series. He has a unique action, skill, the way he gets the ball to move both ways. We made selection decisions to counter-act how good he was,” he added.
However, Haddin said he is not yet in conversations with greats like Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram, Curtley Ambrose, etc.
“I would not put him on top of that league. He has got a long way to go. He has got 200 Test wickets. We hope to see him in some time. If he continues the same way he is going, his name will be in that conversation,” said the former Aussie player.
India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-3, succumbing to a six-wicket defeat in the fifth and final Test at Sydney after setting Australia a target of 162 runs. With this loss, India is officially out of contention for the ICC World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June next year, as Australia and South Africa have sealed their places.
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