"He should have the crown on his head" - Former India all-rounder lauds Jasprit Bumrah's spell on Day 4 of BGT 2024-25 4th Test

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has said that Jasprit Bumrah deserves a crown on his head for his outstanding performances throughout his career. He pointed out that the unconventional seamer has outperformed the greatest bowlers while achieving the 200-wicket milestone in Tests.

Bumrah registered figures of 4/56 in 24 overs as Australia ended Day 4 (Sunday, December 29) of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 fourth Test in Melbourne at 228/9 in their second innings. Despite his efforts, the hosts enjoy a slight upper hand as they have a 333-run lead heading into the final day.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan was asked about Bumrah reaching the 200-wicket mark at a better career average than the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Curtly Ambrose during his spell.

"I have great respect for the names you took. However, the pitches used to be uncovered. The pitches are covered now. There were no cracks visible even on the fourth-day pitch. There is a lot of difference in the pitches. We see more flatter pitches now. The ball doesn't reverse much as well," he responded.

"He has taken wickets with normal conventional swing and has taken more wickets of top-order batters. No one who has taken 200 wickets has had such an average in world cricket. He is the first bowler to have an average of less than 20. So he should have the crown on his head. He is that kind of bowler," Pathan added.

Jasprit Bumrah reached the 200-wicket milestone by having Travis Head caught by Nitish Kumar Reddy at square leg. With 202 wickets at an average of 19.51 in 44 Tests, he is the only bowler to have taken 200 or more scalps in the longest format at an average lesser than 20.

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"There hasn't been a better bowler quality-wise in Indian cricket history" - Irfan Pathan on Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah castled Sam Konstas for eight in Australia's second innings. [P/C: Getty]

While placing Jasprit Bumrah on a high pedestal, Irfan Pathan noted that the right-arm seamer didn't allow Sam Konstas to repeat his first innings exploits in the second essay.

"There hasn't been a better bowler quality-wise in Indian cricket history. You expect him to take wickets in every spell and he doesn't disappoint 99.9 percent. We saw that today as well. (Sam) Konstas might have done it (hit Bumrah) once in the first innings but he didn't let him do it again," he said in the same discussion.

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the Indian vice-captain dismissed the dangerous Travis Head cheaply in both innings.

"He got Travis Head, who has always been a headache, out in both innings. You remember the World Cup final. The number of times he got beaten, if he had got the edge even once, the World Cup would have been ours, and Bumrah only would have dismissed him," Pathan observed.

Pathan added that Bumrah got the better of Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey with contrasting lengths.

"He bowls the most incredible lengths. He sets the batters brilliantly. Mitchell Marsh is struggling for rhythm and if Bumrah is in front of him, he will struggle even more. Alex Carey's wicket showed that he knows he should bowl short against which batter and full against which batter. That's why - Waah, waah Bumrah," he elaborated.

Bumrah's dismissals of Konstas, Head, Marsh, and Carey helped India reduce Australia to 91/6 in their second innings. However, a 57-run seventh-wicket partnership between Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins and an unbroken 55-run last-wicket partnership between Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland took the hosts to an advantageous position.