Bumrah is King, but can he pick 8/15 in Tests? Cook on Jasprit’s ‘greatest bowler’ tag

Everyone likes Bumrah, but there’s none like him. The ace Indian quick is perhaps the greatest Indian seamer and one of the best of his time across formats. Let alone opinions about him, his impact in crucial moments and matches, and his statistics in significant ICC tournaments, are all but testament to his greatness. Even though several former captains have called him a champion bowler, including MS Dhoni, after Bumrah’s heroics in the T20 WC final, and now Michael Vaughan, England and Ashes hero Alastair Cook asked the tough question, ‘Bumrah is the best all-format bowler, but can he bowl an 8/15 spell?

His comments came on the back of remarks made by former England stars, including Mark Butcher and Vaughan, who couldn’t stop praising the Indian quick for his unparalleled ability to win the game for his team every time, regardless of the opposition or venue. While Vaughan went a step ahead by putting Bumrah in the same breath as football icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, his ex-teammate Butcher added that if Bumrah were part of an England team, he would have won them a World Cup.

“Put Jasprit Bumrah in England's team, and they win it,” Vaughan said on Stick to Cricket. Replying to him, Butcher said, “I reckon if you put him in anybody's team, they’ll win it.”

“Exactly,” Vaughan added. “He’s probably like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo — those kinds of players.”

David Lloyd, also part of the discussion panel, asked Vaughan, “Didn’t you say he is the best bowler you have ever seen?” to which the Ashes-winning England captain said, “Yes, he is. You’ve got to remember that I started watching or studying cricket in 1985, and he’s the best I’ve seen.”

Cook asks tough questions

Although he agreed with his compatriots about Bumrah’s greatness, Cook asked if Bumrah could pull off a Stuart Broad in Tests, which referred to Broad’s iconic spell at Trent Bridge during the 2015 Ashes, where he returned with 8/15 on the day of the Test.

“Is he the best in terms of match-winning spells in Test cricket? Without a shadow of a doubt, he is the best all-format bowler around, I think. I mean, you can safely say that. But has he, like, in a Test match bowled a spell like an 8/15, or is he not that kind of bowler?” Cook asked.

Swiftly replying to Cook’s question, Vaughan said, “I’ve seen him a bit in Australia. Some of the spells have been different — that too on flat decks.”

Meanwhile, Bumrah finished with 14 wickets in India’s triumphant T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, the joint-most alongside his teammate Varun Chakaravarthy.