Adam Gilchrist heaps praise on Jasprit Bumrah: ‘He would have ripped on Bradman’s peak in the matter of balls’

When asked about how much the Aussie would rate Bumrah he said, “I am not rating him, no number befitting what he is in world sport,” Gilchrist said on the Club Prairie Fire podcast. “He would have ripped on Bradman’s peak in the matter of balls. It would have been much further south of 99 (Bradman’s batting average) that he sits at. You cannot have a reward that is high enough for him,” he added.

Earlier heaping praise on Bumrah during the Melbourne Test, Adam Gilchrist said: “It is just a different ball game, a different planet, that Bumrah is playing on compared to everyone else.” The praise that he received from Gilchrist, as well as several other former Australian cricketers— comparing him to the West Indies greats of the past too as he crossed 200 wickets at an average of less than 20 – was richly deserved.

Not that Australia’s batters were much better (because of course they had to face Bumrah) but India’s inconsistency across the lineup was more glaring. Australia’s top order (No 1 to 7) averaged 28.79 compared to India’s 24.67. The big difference was the hosts’ four centuries and eight fifties here compared to two centuries and 6 fifties for India – more match-winning knocks. For positions 9 to 11, Australia averaged 15 compared to India’s 9.64.

No fast bowler, perhaps, has outwitted the modern bats as much as Bumrah has for these many years. Pick a set of 50 games anywhere from his career graph and the wicket-taking efficiency would stand up to compete with anybody. Never has his bowling average crept above 24. Neither have his strike-rates diminished below 37; both unimaginable feats for bowlers at their peaks.