 "Steve Smith has praised Jasprit Bumrah as the best fast bowler across formats. AP")
Veteran Australia cricketer Steve Smith had huge praise for India pacer Jasprit Bumrah following the latter’s exploits in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai recently. Bumrah took five wickets across both the Bangladesh innings, including a four-fer in the first innings . India are scheduled to tour Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where they will play five Tests.
The Test series will be part of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Bumrah and Smith are set to face off in that series, with the first Test starting in Perth from 22 November.
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‘A wonderful bowler’
“He’s a wonderful bowler, whether I face him with the new ball, slightly older ball, or even the old ball,” the 35 year-old said on Star Sports. Bumrah, who played a crucial role in India’s T20 World Cup triumph this year, was named Player of the Tournament after he took 15 wickets.
Irrespective of the format, the 30 year-old is a threat to the opposition with his accuracy of deliveries and flexibility. Smith termed the Gujarat speedster as the “best fast bowler” across all formats. “He’s got great skills with all of them. He’s a great bowler, arguably the best fast bowler across the three formats,” commented the New South Wales cricketer.
Bumrah and Smith’s statistics
On his two tours to Australia (in 2018/19) and 2020/21) so far, Bumrah has taken 32 wickets from seven wickets. He was part of the Indian team that won the Test series in both of these years. Smith has aggregated 2042 runs from 37 innings against India in Tests, including nine centuries and five half-centuries.