Former England fast bowler Steve Harmison has drawn a striking parallel between India’s ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah and football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, emphasising the irreplaceable nature of the fast bowler. Harmison believes that if Bumrah is forced to miss the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy due to injury, it would be akin to a FIFA World Cup without Ronaldo at his peak. Bumrah, who played a pivotal role in India’s Test series against Australia, is struggling with a swelling on his back and is likely to miss the group stage of the Champions Trophy.

However, Harmison insists that India should keep him in the squad until the last possible moment in hopes of his return for the knockout rounds.

Speaking on TalkSport Cricket, Harmison made a compelling case for India’s patience with their premier fast bowler.

“He’s Jasprit Bumrah. For me, you can’t replace Jasprit Bumrah anytime,” Harmison said. “And I mean, I would even go up to the morning of the final to take him that far because he’s Jasprit Bumrah. He’s the best in the world. That would be my take from an Indian point of view.”

The former England pacer likened Bumrah’s potential absence to a football World Cup without one of the greatest forwards of all time.

“It’s like going to a football World Cup without your best striker, Cristiano Ronaldo. Fifteen years ago, you don’t replace Ronaldo until you have to. That’s what I imagine India will do with Bumrah.”

Harmison even joked that India could “carry him around in a sedan chair” throughout the tournament and hope that he is available by the semi-finals or the final.

“It’s a 14-man squad. That’s good enough to get me through the group games. We might get him by the semifinal, more than the semifinal. If he’s not fit, we’ll replace him just in case we have another injury. But he’s Jasprit Bumrah.”

The Champions Trophy is set to begin on February 19, featuring the world’s top eight ODI teams. India will play all their matches in Dubai due to their refusal to travel to Pakistan, which prompted the ICC to approve a hybrid model.

India’s group-stage campaign includes matches against Bangladesh (February 20), Pakistan (February 23), and New Zealand (March 2). If India progresses, the semi-finals will take place on March 4 and 5, with the final set for March 9. Whether Bumrah will be ready by then remains uncertain.

Bumrah was in sensational form during India’s recent five-match Test series in Australia, where he bagged 32 wickets and was named Player of the Series. However, he sat out the final day of the series in Sydney due to his back injury, as Australia claimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Injury woes have plagued the Indian speedster before. Bumrah previously missed almost a year of international cricket, from September 2022 to August 2023, due to a back surgery. Given his recurring fitness concerns, India will be cautious in rushing him back.

File image of Babar Azam.© AFP

After reaching the historic 10,000-run milestone with a single, Steve Smith went on to score his 35th Test century and helped Australia reach 330 for 2 on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle, Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Smith was batting on 104 at stumps with Usman Khawaja unbeaten on 147, having anchored the Australian innings, raising 195 runs for the third wicket partnership. Coming in to bat at No.4, Smith displayed his trademark precision and composure, forging a strong partnership with Usman Khawaja. His hundred, achieved off 179 balls (10 fours and 1 six) in his 205th innings, places him third on the list of fastest to 35 Test centuries, trailing only Ricky Ponting (195) and Sachin Tendulkar (200) in terms of innings taken to reach the milestone.

Smith is now only the seventh batter to record 35 Test centuries, joining an elite list that includes Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45), Ponting (41), Kumar Sangakkara (38), Rahul Dravid (36), and Joe Root (36).

Smith surpassed the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene and Younis Khan in the list of batters with most Test hundreds. All the four ex-cricketers slammed 34 tons each in the format.

His achievement is further amplified by his captaincy record, as this was his 16th Test hundred as Australia captain, surpassing Allan Border and Steve Waugh, both of whom had 15. Among Australian captains, only Ponting (19) has scored more centuries, while globally, Smith ranks fourth behind Graeme Smith (25), Virat Kohli (20), and Ponting.

Smith’s dominance with the bat extends to his numbers as a leader, as he closed in on 4,000 Test runs as captain, boasting an average of over 68 – second only to Don Bradman’s extraordinary 101 among skippers with at least 3,000 Test runs.

Earlier in the day, Smith became just the 15th batter to surpass 10,000 Test runs, joining an exclusive club of Australian greats that includes Allan Border, Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting. He also became the fifth-fastest to the milestone, trailing only Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Sangakkara, and Ponting, all of whom reached the mark in 195 or 196 innings.

Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in action on Day 2 of Pune Test vs New Zealand.© BCCI

Despite his retirement in 2013, Sachin Tendulkar still holds the top spot in Test runs, among several other records of his that stand till date. Sachin retired with 15,921 Test to his name. When it comes to the active crickters, India’s Virat Kohli, Australia’s Steve Smith and England’s Joe Root are the top three batters with most Test runs. While Root is at the top of the chart with 12,402 runs, Smith (9685 runs) and Kohli (8871 runs) are next on the list.

All three — Virat, Smith and Root — have been touted as next greats in Test cricket, with several experts and former players expecting them to break the record of runs scored by Tendulkar in the format.

While Root continues his rich form in Test cricket, Smith and Kohli are suffering a massive dip in form. Amid the ongoing poor run of the two players, former Australia star Brad Hogg has passed a massive verdict on Kohli.

“I just don’t think Virat is going to get there. I think he’s lost his momentum and the momentum that he’s lost has been for a number of years now. He’s got to turn around in the next 10 Test matches, or he’s going to drop off,” former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg said in a video on his YouTube channel before India vs Bangladesh first Test.

The India vs Bangladesh match in Chennai saw Kohli returning scores of 6 and 17 across the two innings.

“Joe Root has 146 Test matches with 12,000 runs. Sachin Tendulkar made nearly 16,000 runs in 200 Test matches. That’s 4,000 runs in 66 Tests. I think Joe Root can go close to toppling that,” said the former Australia all-rounder.

“Watch out, Joe Root is on the move to beat Sachin Tendulkar. I think quietly he’ll have that in the back of his mind to try and topple that little unique stat,” Hogg added.

File photo of Joe Root.© AFP

Neeraj Chopra continues to rise. He is now a household name, boasting a gold and a silver medal in his Olympics career, giving him the best medal cabinet for an Indian athlete competing in individual events. Chopra’s meteoric rise is set to continue in 2024 and beyond, despite missing out on gold in Paris 2024. In fact, Neeraj Chopra’s brand endorsements portfolio is set to grow by 50% in the ongoing calendar year, as per a report by Moneycontrol.

Star Indian cricketers Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma expectedly lead the way in terms of sportspersons in India with the highest brand value. However, Neeraj, who already rubs shoulders in that regard with some of the high-profile cricketers, is set to exceed some more.

Neeraj presently endorses 21 brands across 24 different categories, according to the Moneycontrol report, which adds that Hardik Pandya has a portfolio of 20 brands.

The report says Chopra endorsement portfolio may reach 32-34 names by the 2024-end, more than several top cricketers.  

“Currently, we are talking to about six to eight brands to discuss endorsement,” said Divyanshu Singh, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of JSW Sports, the company that manages Chopra’s portfolio.

“We are seeing a jump in his brand value by close to 40 to 50 percent but he’s already got a very, strong foundation, which will only get better from here. His endorsement fee has seen a 40 to 50 percent jump. Until about last year, he was doing all his endorsements at about Rs 3 crore per year. Now that number would touch about Rs 4 to 4.5 crore per year, and that’s the kind of growth we are seeing,” Singh said.

Neeraj currently endorses brands like American sportswear company Under Armour, luxury watchmaker Omega, Gillette and Samsung among others.

Apart from Neeraj, badminton star PV Sindhu and recently retired football icon Sunil Chhetri rank in the upper echelons of Indian sportspersons who have a high brand value, but are not cricketers.

Neeraj was one of the favourites for a gold medal in javelin throw at the Paris Olympics 2024, having won gold in Tokyo 2020. However, Chopra’s 89.45m throw – although the second-best of his career – was only good enough for silver, as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem threw an Olympic record 92.97m to clinch gold.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting reckoned that Joe Root could surpass batting legend Sachin Tendulkar‘s tally of runs in Test cricket, provided the England batting mainstay stays ‘hungry’ and keeps scoring at a consistent rate for the next four years. Root became only the seventh batter in the history of the conventional format to cross the 12,000-run mark – a feat he achieved recently during the Edgbaston Test against the West Indies. With 12,027 runs in 143 Tests at 50.11 with 32 centuries and 63 fifties so far, Root is also overall the seventh highest run-scorer in Tests and could overtake Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (12,400 runs) and his former teammate Alastair Cook (12,472) soon.

Tendulkar leads the table with 15921 runs from 200 Tests.

Ponting, who sits second behind Tendulkar in the list with 13,378 runs from 168 Tests, told The ICC Review, “He (Root) could potentially do that. He is 33 years of age…(more than) 3000 runs behind.”

“It depends how many Test matches they play, but if they’re playing 10 to 14 Test matches a year and if you’re scoring 800 to 1,000 runs a year, then that sort of says he’s only three or four years off getting there. So that’ll take him to 37 (years of age),” said the legendary Australian.

Ponting said Root will need to remain hungry for runs and the England batter has got the age on his side to aim for the Test record.

“If his hunger’s still there, then there’s every chance that he could do it. He is someone that in the last couple of years has got better and better,” Ponting said.

“There’s always talk around batters reaching their prime in their early 30s and he’s certainly done that. It’s been his conversion rates being the big thing,” he said.

Ponting said Root seemed to have overcome his inability to convert half-centuries into big scores.

“Four or five years ago, he was making a lot of 50s and struggling to go on and make hundreds and he’s gone the other way recently,” Ponting said.

“Almost every time he gets to 50 now, he goes on and makes a big hundred. So that’s been the real turnaround for him,” he added.

Carlos Alcaraz after winning Wimbledon 2024 men’s singles title.© AFP