Former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist reserved the highest praise a bowler could get for India's Jasprit Bumrah. Gilchrist was asked to rate Bumrah's performance out of 10 in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The former wicketkeeper-batter said that legendary batter Sir Don Bradman would not have averaged 99.94 in Tests had Bumrah played in that era.
"I am not rating him, no number befitting what he is in world sport. 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," Gilchrist said on Club Prairie Fire Podcast in the presence of former England captain Michael Vaughan.
Bumrah - 'Player of the series'
Bumrah got a perfect 10 on 10 rating from Vaughan. The pacer was adjudged 'Player of the series' as he took a record-equalling 32 wickets at an average just over 13. He bagged as many as three fifers on the tour and bowled a total of 151.2 overs. The 30-year-old would have bowled more and taken more wickets had it not been for back spasm he suffered in the first innings of Sydney Test. Australian opener Usman Khawaja and former cricketers believed that the outcome of the Sydney Test could have been different had Bumrah bowled while defending a stiff target.
Bumrah doubtful for Champions Trophy 2025
Bumrah toiled hard in Australia to get breakthroughs. Many said that he did not have enough support from other bowlers. After the 1-3 series defeat, the specifics of Bumrah's injury are yet to be made public by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) medical team.
As earlier reported by Sports Tak, Bumrah was asked to report to the Centre of Excellence, formerly NCA in Bengaluru. The in-form pacer may miss the three-ODI series against England and group stages of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 where they are placed alongside New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
India's campaign opener is against Bangladesh on February 22. The high voltage clash against Pakistan will be played on February 23. The third and final group stage match of India against New Zealand will be played on March 2. Soon after, the semifinals will be played on March 4 and 5. The final of Champions Trophy 2025 is scheduled to be played on March 9.
Meanwhile, India's ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad is yet to be announced. The announcement is set to come on January 18 or 19, confirmed BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla on January 13.