Agencies
MUMBAI: Jasprit Bumrah on Monday became the quickest Indian fast bowler to take 100 Test wickets.
He reached this milestone in his 24th Test match on the final day of the fourth Test against England when he claimed the wicket of Ollie Pope. India won the Test.
Bumrah surpassed the Indian legend Kapil Dev who took 25 Tests to claim his first 100 wickets.
Among other Indian fast bowlers, Irfan Pathan took 28 Tests and Mohammad Shami 29 to claim their 100 Test wickets.
But if you consider both fast and spin bowlers, then Ravichandran Ashwin is the quickest Indian bowler to claim 100 wickets in 18 Test matches, followed by Erapalli Prasanna (20), Anil Kumble (21), Subash Gupte (22), BS Chandrasekhar (22), Pragyan Ojha (22), and Vinoo Mankad (23).
In an interview with a newspaper in 2018 when Bumrah started his Test career, the greatest Indian cricketer Kapil Dev had said that he had suspicions about Bumrah’s unique action, but he had been proven wrong.
Kapil had said, “I have to tell you that Bumrah has proved me wrong. When I saw him first time I had thought (whether) he could last long with this kind of action, but he has. Hats off to him.
“I think he is fabulous. With such a short run-up, if he can generate 140-plus speeds consistently, you have to respect him. He has a special shoulder. These type of bowlers are unique.”
Kapil added, ”Bumrah is good with both the new and old ball. He has a very good bouncer which can surprise the opposition. He is very accurate and knows where he is bowling. He applies his mind well. All this put together makes him one of the leading bowlers in the world today.”
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