Former England captain Alastair Cook has questioned Jasprit Bumrah’s ability to run through sides and bowl spells like Stuart Broad’s 8/15 in the 2015 Ashes Test against Australia. The 40-year-old heaped praise on the Indian pacer, referring to him as the ‘best all-format bowler going around’, but raised doubts over whether he could take wickets and be economical at the same time.
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 said on the ‘Stick to Cricket’ podcast.
Bumrah’s best bowling figures in Test cricket came in 2019, when he took 6/27 in Jamaica, which also included a hat-trick. Overall, he has 16 five-wicket hauls in Tests, but has yet to record a 10-wicket haul, with 9/86 being his best bowling figures in a match.