Ricky Ponting hails Bumrah and tackles the GOAT question

Bumrah captained India to a famous 295-run win last week, taking a match-haul of eight wickets, with his five-for in the first innings helping restrict Australia to 104.

In the absence of front-line pacer Mohammed Shami and with a relatively inexperienced bowling line-up that included debutants Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy, Bumrah stepped his game up to another level.

“It was so important for the captain to stand up,” Ponting said in the latest ICC Review. “I think he showed everyone why he's clearly the best fast bowler in the world in all formats of the game.”

Australia had the advantage after the opening day as India were bowled out for 150.

However, it was all India thereafter as Bumrah ran through the Australian top-order, reducing them to 19/3, with Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith all becoming his victims inside the first seven overs.

He went on to end the innings with 5/30, and Ponting shed light on how he had marked himself out from every other player in the Test.

“What he did there, not only in the first innings but for that entire game – his pace, his consistency, his ability to move the ball, his ability to continually challenge the stumps and hit the stumps, [it] was the difference between him and everyone else that bowled in that game.”

Bumrah’s performance has raised the volume on talk of him being amongst the game’s greats already.

Against Australia in particular, he boasts a sizzling average of 18.80, an economy rate of 2.46, and has 40 scalps in just eight matches. Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell said he had the potential to be the “best fast bowler of all time” by the time he ends his career.

When asked for his take on Bumrah’s stature, Ponting was effusive. “I think he's definitely India's greatest fast bowler,” he said. “A lot of the greats before him didn't play all three formats as much as he has.

“I can put my hand up and ask people to sit back and watch and say that in T20 cricket, one-day cricket and Test match cricket, he's clearly the best right now.

"It's not all about wickets. It's about performing at a high level for a long period of time. We saw the other day when he gets the right conditions, just how good he can be.

“If he keeps going the way that he is, then there'll be a lot of people saying what Glenn Maxwell said I'm sure."

Watch every Jasprit Bumrah wicket from CWC23

Ponting also drew comparisons between Bumrah and legendary fast bowlers Curtly Ambrose and Glenn McGrath, focusing on their ability to build pressure and restrict the batter.

"It's the build-up of pressure,” said Ponting. “Curtly Ambrose was the same, Glenn McGrath was the same. Like any of the great fast bowlers, they make scoring difficult.

“You just don't score off him [Bumrah]. You don't get any runs. The best of the best make scoring difficult for batsmen, and then it makes batting uncomfortable.

“You forget about your instincts as a batsman, when you think about surviving and not scoring runs – that's when batting becomes really hard.”

When asked how he’d take on Bumrah if he was still playing though, Ponting saw the funny side of it.

"I'd charge him every ball, I'd run down the wicket, I'd hit him back over his head,” he laughed. “That’s very much a joke, but I’d try to be proactive and put pressure back on the bowler.

“I'd be reacting to the ball, but I'd be trying to score. Like I said, the reason that he's so good is because he doesn't let you score.

“The flip side of the best bowlers not letting you score is that the best batsmen don't allow bowlers to bowl that way. That's the way I would approach it as well."