Jasprit Bumrah is a genie that Indian cricket have brought as a gift: Manjrekar-OxBig News Network

Former India cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has called India speedster Jasprit Bumrah a genie to Indian cricket. Notably, Bumrah is in the form of his life in 2024 having scalped 70 wickets from 13 matches (26 innings) in 2024 at an average of 15.12 and an economy of 2.97 with four five-wicket hauls to his name.

He rattled the Australian top order on Day 4 picking four wickets which included the big scalps of Sam Konstas, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey. Reacting on his performance, Manjrekar called Bumrah’s bowling flawless and also called him the genie of Indian cricket who’s been sent to fulfil their wishes.

“There’s just no weakness this man has. It’s almost like he is this genie that Indian cricket have brought as a gift and you make a wish and you get it. And it’s always Bumrah providing it, be it the T20 cricket World Cup or 50 over World Cup, or it’s a match like this, crucial game on a page where a lot of the bowlers struggle to get anything out of it. He was getting lateral movement,” Manjrekar said.

Further speaking ahead, the former batter praised him for completing 200 wickets with an average of under 20.

“He’s cleaned up Alex Carey, as if, he’s a number 10, 11 batter. He just had two balls in that spell left. You knew he wasn’t going to bowl more than two balls, and he nailed Alex Carey there as well. And when you look at the average, I mean, this is unbelievable. We talk about Curtly Ambrose. I had the privilege of playing against Malcolm Marshall. Now those are great names, and an average of under 20 after 200 wickets is just mind-boggling stuff from Jasprit Bumrah,” he added.

Bumrah became the fastest Indian pacer to complete 200 Test wickets reaching the landmark in 85 innings. The India vice-captain has the best bowling average in Tests amongst bowlers with over 200 wickets. He’s also the current number-one ranked bowler in the world with the joint-highest rating by an Indian bowler (904). Bumrah has picked 29 wickets in the series so far and is a strong contender for the Player of the Series award.