India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ignored star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma while naming his most valuable Indian cricketer right now and gave the honour to speedster Jasprit Bumrah. Notably, Bumrah has been phenomenal with the ball ever since his comeback in international cricket in August 2023.
He was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the ODI World Cup 2023 with 20 wickets and later rose to the number one rank in Test bowling rankings in February 2024. Bumrah recently played a pivotal role in India’s victorious campaign in the T20 World Cup 2024 having picked 15 wickets from eight matches with a record-breaking economy rate of 4.17. Courtesy of his performance, he was bestowed with the Player of the Tournament award in the T20 extravaganza.
Speaking about Bumrah’s stature in Indian cricket, Ashwin mentioned how he was given the same treatment as superstar Rajnikanth during his recent visit to Chennai.
"We Chennai people appreciate bowlers a lot. He was here for an event as a chief guest 4-5 days ago. We gave him a Rajni treatment. We (Chennai people) treat bowlers very nicely. He should be treated as a champion. I don’t want to name, but Jasprit Bumrah is the most valuable Indian cricketer right now," Ashwin said on Vimal Kumar's YouTube channel.
Ever since his comeback in international cricket from a back injury, Bumrah has scalped 31 wickets from six Test matches at an average of just 15.35 with two five wicket hauls. In T20Is, he has scalped 19 wickets from ten matches at an average of 8.57 at a phenomenal economy of 4.32. In ODIs, he’s taken 28 wickets from 16 innings since 2023 at an average of 20.28 and an economy of 4.40.
His sensational performance in the longest format saw him become just the fourth Indian bowler and first pacer to climb to the top of the Test bowling rankings. He currently holds the joint second rank in the list along with Josh Hazlewood with 847 ratings to his name. Ashwin is comfortably sitting at the top 870 ratings. The duo will be seen in action as India take on Bangladesh in first Test of the two-match series beginning from September 19 in Chennai.
