Aakash Chopra Picks Jasprit Bumrah As His Player Of The Match; Lauds The Pacer For Picking Wickets And Scoring Crucial Runs 

Aakash Chopra has named Jasprit Bumrah as his Player of the Match of the first Test in Nottingham for the player’s terrific performances in the game both with the ball and bat.

The Trent Bridge game ended in a draw after rain played spoilsport not allowing even a single ball to be bowled on Day 5. Joe Root bagged the Man of the Match award for his 64 in the first innings and 109 in the second, carrying England on his shoulders in the absence of Ben Stokes.

Aakash Chopra, however, has gone with Bumrah for his best player in the game. He pointed out that the speedster set the tone for India by picking the wicket of Rory Burns in the first over itself; then he returned to clean up England’s tail, which troubled them on the previous tour in 2018. Bumrah also made a significant contribution of 28 runs in India’s first innings extending the lead to 95 runs.

“Who is my player of the match, I am going with Boom Boom Bumrah. I am talking about him because he has taken nine wickets. When you lose the toss on the first day and you are given the responsibility to bowl, it is necessary to take wickets there. He took a wicket in the first over, he just set the tone for the team,” Aakash Chopra said in his YouTube video.

“After that, he took another wicket and then came back later to get rid of the tail because the tail always troubles us if we see Indian cricket history. So there also he took the wickets, got four wickets.

“After that, he came and scored the required runs with the bat because if he had not scored those runs, you wouldn’t have got a 95-run lead. So, you need to keep that in mind as well,” he added.

He took a five-wicket haul in great style: Aakash Chopra

Bumrah wasn’t done yet. After going wicketless in the WTC final, the Ahmedabad pacer bagged nine at Trent Bridge. In the second innings, he returned with a five-for, including the wicket of centurion Joe Root, preventing England from conjuring a big lead.

“After that, he took a five-wicket haul in great style. There was a time when England had taken the lead with only two players dismissed and Root was playing very well, there also it was Jasprit Bumrah again who took the wickets,” the 43-year-old further added.

The second Test at Lord’s kicks off on Thursday (August 12).

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