Former India head coach Ravi Shashtri heaped praises on T20 World Cup 2024 star Jasprit Bumrah and compared him with the legendary Pakistan duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, as well as Australia great Shane Warne.
As a commentator closely following the tournament, Shastri highlighted his top moments from the T20 World Cup, including India's thrilling seven-run victory over South Africa in the final in Barbados.
While speaking to ICC, Shashtri said, “He just showed the world what it takes and you know, it's not often in your career when you have a ball in your hand and you say, do this and the ball does that.”
“He just showed the world what it takes and you know, it's not often in your career when you have a ball in your hand and you say, do this and the ball does that,” Shastri said.
Bumrah was the Player of the Tournament for his 15 wickets at an average of 8.26, which led Shastri to compare the 30-year-old to three former greats. He said, “Very few have done it, I thought Wasim [Akram] and Waqar [Younis] had it in their prime when they played white-ball cricket. Shane Warne had it where he could literally tell the ball, go there, pitch there, hit leg stump.”
“People who are on top of the game have that ability. I think Bumrah had that in this World Cup.”
Earlier, the iconic former India all-rounder Kapil Dev had said that Bumrah is a "1000 times better" bowler than what he was at his prime. "Bumrah is 1000 times better than me. These young boys are far better than us. We had more experience. They are better," Kapil told news agency PTI.
Meanwhile, India ended their 11-year-long ICC trophy drought as Virat Kohli (76), Hardik Pandya (3/20) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/18) starred in Men in Blue's seven-run win over South Africa in the final at Barbados on June 29.
(With inputs from agencies)
