'Jasprit Bumrah not elevated as Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli': Ashwin says Jassi better than most Indian batters

Jasprit Bumrah is the only Asian cricketer to have picked 150 Test wickets in the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and England) countries. He has left behind some all-time greats like Wasim Akram, Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan and Waqar Younis. And when you think that he still has a lot of cricket left in him, even after workload management, it becomes an almost impossible task to imagine what more he can achieve with the ball. You quietly nod like former England pacer Steve Finn to the "Is Bumrah the greatest among the greats? question. India's Jasprit Bumrah (C) celebrates with teammate Ravichandran Ashwin (R)(AFP)

Ravichandran Ashwin is not a believer in "marketing" a particular player but he can't help but marvel at Jasprit Bumrah's skills, "one of the greatest to have played in his era."

"I have praised him a lot. But the word you said will not come out of my mouth. But the point is, he is fabulous. That's all I want to leave. He was born in this world. All these things become a soap opera. I am not one of those drama artists. I don't want to market anyone. But he is a fabulous cricketer," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel when he was asked about whether all other cricketers of the world secretly wish Bumrah were a part of their team.

Before that, Ashwin had no hesitation in rating Bumrah "above" a lot of Indian batters. The former India all-rounder even went on to add that Bumrah doesn't get the same elevation as Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma.

"I really wish that we go that route (In giving Bumrah the same respect as Tendulkar and Kohli). I am still saying that as much as we do for Rohit Sharma, or Virat Kohli, or Sachin Tendulkar, we don't do the same for Jassi. Definitely more than what a bowler usually has. He's got a lot of respect. He's got a lot of fans. A lot of people love him. I am his number one fan. Maybe his wife could be number one, competing for it. I am his number one fan," Ashwin claimed.

‘Bumrah better than most Indian batters’: Ashwin

Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are all batters of extreme quality. Some would rightly say Tendulkar and Kohli would proudly represent India in the greatest cricketers of all time list but Bumrah is perhaps the only Indian fast bowler who would feature in the top half of that list. He is that good a bowler and generally bowlers don't get the same amount of attention as a batter of the same quality would

Ashwin gave the examples of the deliveries that Bumrah bowled to dismiss England opener Zak Crawley and former captain Joe Root in the first innings of the Headingley Test to strengthen his point.

"He is on a different pedestal. He is in a different world. And the problem is, it's not about the uniqueness of his action. It is about the quality of execution. How does he execute? The way he troubled Joe Root in the first innings, proper. Joe Root was not able to pick the length. The ball was a little far. He could have played the rest of the bowlers in the backfoot, would have tapped it to third man. But not to Bumrah.

"He came forward. Because he was worried about the ball nipping back in. And he didn't pick the length. He chased it a little. It went in the slip. He is just a fabulous bowler. The ball of Zak Crawley in the first innings, how many can he bowl that? He is almost past the vertical. From there, he dropped it in the middle stump. He has taken that out. That needs great awareness, great wrist position, quality execution and an unbelievable amount of work to try and keep his body in that shape to do this," Ashwin added.

Bumrah, who has already picked up 210 wickets at an unbelievable average of 19.60 - the lowest among all bowlers to have taken more than 200 Test wickets, is in a league of his own.

"He is on a different plane altogether. And I would be very proud to say I played with Jassi. I batted against Jassi. I was in a team with Jassi. And I have seen some fabulous victories. And I have played together with him. He is one of the legends. He is right up there. If not, better than some of the batters in our country."

Click here to read article