Following Jasprit Bumrah’s heroics in India’s first ODI win against England, where he took six wickets for 19 runs, a reporter asked opposition captain Jos Buttler whether he thinks the 28-year-old is the best bowler currently across all three formats.
Buttler, who is known to be calm and composed both on and off the pitch, looked visibly irritated by the repeating question by the journalist. The England captain went on to deliver a quirky verdict, leaving the journalist still wanting more.
A video depicting the conversation between the two emerged on YouTube, on a channel apparently belonging to the questioning journalist, Vimal Kumar. However, it is not verified if Kumar was the journalist who had asked the questions to Jos Buttler.
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The conversation took place during the post-match press conference, which Buttler attended representing the England team. Soon into the press conference, Buttler was asked by Kumar whether he agrees with former England captain Nasser Hussain, who indicated that India pacer Jasprit Bumrah is the best bowler across all three formats during the match.
“There’s no doubt that he’s a fantastic bowler. He’s been one of the leading bowlers in the world for a number of years now. And it looks like he’s going from strength to strength,” Buttler answered.
“That’s the great challenge of playing against India, you get to face these fantastic bowlers and batsmen. That’s why you want to play international cricket to challenge yourself against the best. No doubt he’s one of the best and we look forward to the challenge again on Thursday to try and get the better of him,” the 31-year-old added.
The questioning journalist on the opposite end was evidently not content with the answer as he went on to ask Buttler that he did not answer the question definitively. “Is he (Bumrah) the best or is he one of the best,” the journalist enquired.
Jos Buttler was visibly irked by the line of questioning as he gave a short and swift answer. “ You decide,” he responded.
Nasser Hussain, a former England skipper himself, was at the commentator’s box during England’s first ODI against India at the Oval and went on to dub Bumrah as the best bowler across all three formats in the world.
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“Bumrah would have to be the best all-format bowler in world cricket. Who would be the challengers? Maybe Trent Boult, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Jofra Archer when fit. But right now, he is the best there is,” he said.
“The performance in this game was spectacular, high-class. Some of the balls were absolute jaffas. He has the unusual action and run-up so the ball does come at you like a thunderbolt. He also swings it both ways – but he does not just swing it, he is quick as well,” Hussain added.
India face England in the second ODI on July 14 at the Lord’s.