‘Bumrah is head and shoulders above Marshall, Garner, Ambrose’: Gilchrist drops huge West Indies' greats comparison

Despite India’s batting struggles, the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024 has been the Jasprit Bumrah show. The Indian pacer has wreaked havoc and once again tore apart the Aussie batting order on Day 4 of the fourth Test match in Melbourne. India's Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Australia's Sam Konstas.(AFP)

Nitish Kumar Reddy could add only nine more runs to his maiden ton from Day 3, before losing his wicket to Nathan Lyon. It was also the final dismissal of the innings as Reddy’s 114 staged a comeback, taking India to 369, in response to Australia’s first innings total of 474. The hosts still led by 105 runs, but the game was still on as Bumrah geared up for the second innings.

First up, it was debutant Sam Konstas, who tormented Bumrah in the first innings with a half-century. But this time it was Bumrah’s turn as he sent a full length delivery, which sneaked through the gap of Konstas’ bat and pad, to rattle the top of middle stump. It was the perfect response from the veteran bowler as the 19-year-old left for eight off 18 balls.

His next victim was Travis Head, getting the all-important wicket of Travis Head, who caused massive destruction on India in recent times. Bumrah’s delivery saw head chip the ball straight to Nitish at square leg for a catch and Australia slipped to 85/4. Meanwhile, it also meant that Bumrah reached the 200th wicket of his Test career.

In the same over, he sent Mitchell Marsh back to the pavilion for a four-ball duck, and then followed it up with the wicket of Alex Carey (2). It still looks like a huge task for India ahead of Day 5 as the Aussies reached 228/9 at Stumps, with a massive lead of 333 runs. Nathan Lyon (41*) and Scott Boland (10*) will resume batting for the home side on the final day.

Adam Gilchrist pays tribute to Jasprit Bumrah

Lauding Bumrah’s performance, Australia legend Adam Gilchrist called him ‘a world-class performer’ and was at a loss for words. Speaking on Fox Cricket, he said, “It is just a different ball game, a different planet, that Bumrah is playing on compared to everyone else in the game. It is so impressive to watch.”

“We are running out of words to describe it. He is a world class performer, one of the best we have ever seen operating here at the MCG,” he added.

In terms of having a minimum of 200 Test wickets, Bumrah’s bowling average of 19.52 is lower than those of legends Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose and Fred Trueman.

“Look at the other names on that list. He is ahead of them. Every conversation you have with the era who played against those West Indian greats, they say they were near impossible to face. Marshall. Garner. Ambrose. He is head and shoulders above,” said Gilchrist.

In the ongoing series, Bumrah now has 29 wickets, and will look to wrap up the Aussie second innings on Monday.

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