"When I bowled with Curtly Ambrose..." - Ian Bishop hails Jasprit Bumrah as generational bowler

Former cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop has hailed Jasprit Bumrah as a 'generational bowler' as the India pace spearhead enjoys a brilliant campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.

Jasprit Bumrah could not play in the last edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia due to a back injury and has not taken long to show why India missed his services badly. He walked away with the Player of the Match awards in the first two games against Ireland and Pakistan.

Against Ireland, he picked up 2 wickets for just 6 runs in 3 overs as India bowled out the opposition for a paltry 96 and went on to win the game by 8 wickets. Jasprit Bumrah then showed why he is regarded as the best pacer in the world by coming up with an absolutely stunning spell against Pakistan that helped India defend 119 runs.

Pakistan were in the driver's seat at one stage, needing only 40 runs from 36 balls before Jasprit Bumrah turned the game on its head by castling a well-set Mohammad Rizwan. In the 19th over, he conceded only 3 runs and dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed as well to put India on the front foot. He eventually finished the game with figures of 3 for 14 from 4 overs.

Ian Bishop hails Jasprit Bumrah:

With Jasprit Bumrah having a fine outing in the T20 World Cup, Ian Bishop has heaped praise on him. Bishop stated that the India star not only has good variations but is also better than anyone else when it comes to using them. Bishop went on to explain what makes Bumrah so good and concluded by calling him a generational bowler.

"Jasprit is smart, a good communicator who thinks about the game," Ian Bishop told Star Sports. "It starts from the foundation, but he has also developed variations and knows better than most bowlers when to use his variations.

"You hear him say, 'it's not every day I go hunting for wickets - there are days I bowl my yorker at the stumps, days I bowl a wide yorker; there are days when I assess conditions and bowl my slower ball into the pitch or use my bouncer'. In addition to that, he has other ingredients.

"He has a unique action where the ball gets on to you a lot quicker than batters anticipate, the full toss [that got Iftikhar, for example] is because of that. Sometimes they don't get smashed because they get on to you.

"Of course, when you develop that reputation… when I bowled with Curtly Ambrose, Matthew [Hayden] never put a foot wrong against Curtly because of his reputation, but he'd look to smash me. This guy is a generational bowler," he added.

Meanwhile, Team India have booked their spot in the Super 8s of the ongoing T20 World Cup. They are in Group 1 along with Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Australia. India's firs Super 8 game is against Afghanistan on Thursday (June 20).