Harsha Bhogle : Jasprit Bumrah should play Tests in South Africa and England

Bumrah came into the limelight due to his exceptional death overs bowling in the Indian Premier League and it eventually led to him earning a call-up to the national team in January 2016. Bhogle heaped praise on the pacer and claimed that if he picked his Indian Test team today then the 23-year-old would definitely make the cut.

“If I have to pick an Indian Team to play Test matches in South Africa and England today, I think Jasprit Bumrah would be in my side. I think he is ready simply because of the way he has grown and the variations he has. Can you imagine you have a new ball. You've got Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami who have bowled really well and then Bumrah is coming in on the back of that,” Bhogle told Cricbuzz.

Bumrah has always been praised for his death bowling exploits especially in pressure conditions. The pacer has played 28 ODIs and 29 T20Is for India in which he claimed 52 and 38 wickets respectively. Bhogle revealed that when Bumrah came in the cricket community, including hime, had doubted his ability but the bowler proved everyone wrong. 

“I remember seeing Jasprit Bumrah bowl for the first time and I said this kid is different. Then I saw him bowl a little more and I said he’s not bad. Then he kept surprising you. Every time you looked at him and said 'wow, he can bowl' to the extent that he reminds a little bit of Ajit Agarkar. When Ajit Agarkar first came you said he is too wirey, he's too slim, he’s too thin. You looked Agarkar for the wrong reasons. You searched for reasons why he wouldn’t be successful and looked what a stellar one-day record he had. And when Bumrah came, it was much the same. Everyone said no. With his action he cannot and I was among those as well but he just getting better and better,” the 56-year-old admitted.

The IPL gave the pacer an opportunity to learn the game from international players by playing with and against them. Now, he is one of the crucial members of the team and in the absence of the Bhuvneshwar Kumar takes on the responsibility of being Virat Kohli's goto guy.

“Every time Virat Kohli looks for a bowler, every time he is in danger, his eyes pass by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and if Bhuvaneshwar is not available there, they stop at Jasprit Bumrah. And I don’t think in Indian cricket today there is any better and more reliable death bowler,” Bhogle said.