“He is making us fall in love with Test cricket” – Aakash Chopra lauds Jasprit Bumrah for becoming No. 1 ranked Test bowler

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra hailed Jasprit Bumrah for becoming the number-one bowler in the ICC Test rankings. Bumrah became the first Indian pacer to reach the numero uno position in the red-ball rankings.

The Indian gun fast bowler returned with figures of 9-91 in the second Test match against England at Vizag. The ace pacer bowled a terrific spell of 6-45 in the first innings on a flat track as he played a key role in skittling out England at 253.

Furthermore, Bumrah had bagged six wickets in the opening Test match at Hyderabad, including 4-41 in the second innings. Bumrah has scalped 29 wickets in six Test matches in home conditions at a splendid average of 13.06.

Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “With what he (Bumrah) is doing currently, he is making us fall in love with Test cricket. When a batter scores a hundred or a double hundred, he stays at the crease for a long time, so it just captures your imagination a little more because you have seen him bat for seven hours.”

The reputed commentator lauded Bumrah for delivering in unfavorable home conditions.

“In Tests in India, we look at spinners, because they pick up six or seven wickets, and 10 or 12 wickets in a Test match and you say – ‘Wow’. Fast bowlers, because they bowl short spells, don’t capture your imagination as much, especially in Indian conditions,” Chopra added.

Bumrah has been consistently delivering the goods across all three formats. The right-arm pacer had also picked 20 wickets in 11 matches of the ODI World Cup 2023.

“He is an amazing player. You generally don’t look for all-format players in modern-day cricket. The players are coming with that perspective and the selectors also are looking with that perspective.”

“However, a player who couldn’t continuously play all cricket, went through an extremely serious injury and was out for a very long time, the way he is bowling since returning from that – a lot of bowlers come but some bowlers remain in your memory and are exceptional till the time they play,” Chopra elaborated.

The third Test match between India and England will be played at Rajkot from 15th February onwards.