Jasprit Bumrah wrecked England’s explosive batting line-up in the first ODI at the Oval, London on Tuesday. His career best six-wicket haul against Jos Buttler and co took the pacer to No 1 on the 50-over charts.
Bumrah finished with figures of 6/19. His and Mohammed Shami’s venomous spells restricted England to their lowest ODI total vs India – 110. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan chased the target inside 20 over as India secured a 10-wicket victory and lead the series 1-0.
Many praised Bumrah, the player of the match, for his performance. Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar tweeted, “The Oval pitch has great bounce but Indian bowlers bowled the right lengths & that made all the difference. A great bowling performance by India’s pace attack especially Bumrah who was just phenomenal.”
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He further hailed the Mumbai Indians mainstay as the ‘best bowler across formats’.
“I’ve been of the opinion for a while now that Bumrah is the best bowler across formats. It was good to hear @nassercricket agree with me on-air,” Tendulkar added.
Hussain, who led England for 45 Test matches from 1999 to 2003, had also called Bumrah the best across formats.
However, the bowler, in the post-match press conference admitted that he is not taking any opinions seriously.
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“I respect opinions but don’t take them seriously. Not making things too complicated and shutting the outside noise has worked for me. I don’t get buoyed by praise nor do I get bogged down by criticism.”
“I respect what people (experts) have to say but I don’t take them seriously– good or bad,” Bumrah said when asked how he feels about former England skipper Nasser Hussain praise.
For him, “maintaining a balance” is important.
“I live in present, because there is a lot of outside noise, your mind can be cluttered by lot of opinions and it can create confusion.