“There is a huge difference,” Gautam Gambhir says comparing Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Afridi is WRONG after Indian pacer’s four-fer against Afghanistan

Jasprit Bumrah picked up 4 wickets against Afghanistan, Gambhir claimed Bumrah can perform in any phase of an innings and has an impact with a new ball or an old ball.

“There is a huge difference,” Gautam Gambhir says comparing Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Afridi is WRONG after Indian pacer’s four-fer against Afghanistan

Gautam Gambhir called Jasprit Bumrah the biggest X-Factor in the world (Images via Dainik Jagran and ESPN)

On 11th October, India faced Afghanistan in the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi for their World Cup fixture period. On a batting friendly pitch, Jasprit Bumrah picked up 4 wickets and was essential in reducing the Afghanistan total to just 272 runs. 

Talking about Bumrah’s performance against Afghanistan on Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir said “The way he dismissed Mitchell Marsh on that wicket (in the first game against Australia) and the way he dismissed Ibrahim Zadran today, if there is a complete and most lethal bowler in world cricket, it is Bumrah. We compared Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Shah Afridi earlier, there is a huge difference.” 

YouTube video

Gautam Gambhir further said that Bumrah isn’t like other pacers, who only excel in one phase of play. He claimed Bumrah can perform in any phase of an innings and has an impact with a new ball or an old ball. Gambhir called Bumrah the biggest X-factor in the world of cricket, saying he can perform on any surface even if it doesn’t support him. 

Related: “Bumrah did it better”- Netizens react after Jasprit Bumrah pulls out Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford’s iconic celebration

Jasprit Bumrah’s phenomenal comeback from injury 

After injuring his back just weeks before the 2022 Asia Cup, he didn’t play a single match till August 2023 in a 3 match T20I series in Ireland. He played his first ODI in over 11 months in the 2023 Asia Cup. 

Jasprit Bumrah celebrates a wicket (Image via ESPN)

In the 8 ODIs Bumrah has played, he has picked up 14 wickets with an average of just 19.21. His best figures came against Afghanistan in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. Bumrah has excelled in every phase of the match, picking up wickets with the new ball, in the middle overs and in the death overs. 

Bumrah and the Indian team will play their next match on 14th October against arch-rivals, Pakistan. The two teams will face off in the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Both teams have won their first two matches of the tournament and will fight to ensure their unbeaten run in the World Cup continues.

In case you missed: