IND vs USA: After Sanjay Manjrekar's attack on Virat Kohli; Gautam Gambhir opens a new can of worms naming Jasprit Bumrah

Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir believes that Jasprit Bumrah is the X factor and game changer for the Indian team across all formats. 

Gambhir's comments had come before Jasprit Bumrah experienced one of the best days in office ever when he earned the man of the match award against Pakistan. If it wasn't for the right-arm seamer, then the Pakistani team would have stepped over the Indians in New York and the reaction of the public would have been different. 

But Jasprit Bumrah wasn't going to break the hearts of a million Indian fans and therefore when he came to bowl the last over of his spell, he delivered. The right-arm seamer, in the very first ball, knocked the stumps of wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan, who was on course to help Pakistan win the game.

What did Gautam Gambhir say about Jasprit Bumrah?  

While speaking to Sportskeeda before the T20 World Cup, Gautam Gambhir had high praise for Jasprit Bumrah. Gambhir, who is touted to be India's next head coach, admitted that for him Bumrah is the best bowler in the world. 

The Kolkata Knight Riders mentor, who delivered the IPL 2024 trophy on his return to the franchise, had said that very long ago. Gautam Gambhir always had the belief that Jasprit Bumrah was someone who could bowl at any juncture of the game and take wickets at regular intervals. 

Gambhir also said that Jasprit Bumrah is the kind of bowler who can be a match-winner in any given condition and any given format. The 2011 Cricket World Cup winner stated that Bumrah should be getting more credits than he does and he should be mentioned in the same bracket as legendary batters like Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rohit Sharma among others. 

Gambhir then said that regardless of which format Jasprit Bumrah plays in, he is the X factor and the game changer.  

"I think he is the best all-format bowler in the world. And I have said it for a long time. I think we keep talking about a lot of Indian batters but I think he should get a lot of appreciation with the batters. Unfortunately, he doesn't get it. He is the X format in every format, every condition, and every tournament. Whichever team Jasprit Bumrah plays for, he is the X factor and the game changer." - Gambhir said via Sportskeeda. 

Can Bumrah finish as the highest wicket-taker of ICC T20 World Cup 2024? 

Jasprit Bumrah has certainly shown that he is regarded as the best bowler in the world for a very good reason. He has all the makings to be the ICC T20 World Cup 2024's highest wicket-taker and he can get very close to getting there against Canada and USA. 

At the moment, Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi is the highest wicket-taker with 9 wickets to his name from 2 games. Anrich Nortje is second with 8 wickets while Akeal Hosein, Rashid Khan, and Mehran Khan are tied for number 3. Bumrah currently has 5 wickets from 2 games.