Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis passes his assessment of Jasprit Bumrah
He feels Bumrah has not played enough red-ball matches to feature in the list of top Test bowlers
On the contrary, Bumrah has 234 wickets in 52 Tests with an average of 19.7
Former Pakistan captain and ace pacer Waqar Younis feels Jasprit Bumrah has not played enough red-ball cricket so far to be considered the best Test bowler.
He argues that several other bowlers are ahead in the debate because of the volume of red-ball games they have played, comparing Bumrah's red-ball career to the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. Waqar made these comments while speaking on Shubhankar Mishra's podcast.
On the contrary, Bumrah boasts a formidable Test record, having taken 234 wickets in 52 Tests at an average of 19.7 and a strike rate of 42.8. Notably, no bowler in the history of the game with 200 or more Test wickets averages less than 20.
However, Younis also reserved high praise for Bumrah's white-ball mastery.
Elsewhere: We are also covering the South Africa Vs Australia 3rd Test match and the Sri Lanka vs England Tri-Series 2026 match.
He said: “There’s no modern-day bowler of the same calibre as Bumrah with the white ball. Leave out Test cricket. He still has a lot to prove in Tests; he hasn’t played as much. There are plenty of others, like Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. You can’t ignore some of the English bowlers either."
"But when you talk about T20 and one-day cricket, I feel that in terms of impact, Bumrah always delivers in crunch scenarios. And that’s what matters,” Waqar added.
Waqar's assessment stands in stark contrast to Bumrah's stellar achievements in the longest format.
In 2018, Bumrah became the quickest Indian fast bowler to reach 50 Test wickets, doing so in his 11th match, before bringing up his 100th wicket in his 24th appearance. In 2019, he became just the third Indian bowler to complete a Test hat-trick.
Bumrah's phenomenal form in 2024 brought further recognition when he was named the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year.
He followed it up by starring in the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, bagging a record 32 wickets across the five-match series—further cementing his legacy despite the debate surrounding his longevity in the format.
Bumrah is set to feature for India against New Zealand in the Test series.
