When you think of India’s best cricket players of all time, names like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli come to mind. Of the current generation, some might add the likes of Rohit Sharma or Yashasvi Jaiswal. All these names are valid, but are you seeing the pattern? All of the cricketers mentioned above are batters.
This has been the trend in Indian cricket since the start. You see fan clubs of batters who haven’t even made an impact in international cricket like Sanju Samson or Ruturaj Gaikwad. But no one harps on about the bowlers who miss out. This is exactly what legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin thinks.
India’s MVP: Jasprit Bumrah
He feels that bowlers aren’t celebrated like batters in India. That is why he feels ecstatic when people show their love to Jasprit Bumrah. The champion bowler who was the main reason behind India lifting their first ICC trophy in 11 years, the 2024 T20 World Cup, has been labelled as the most valuable Indian cricket by Ashwin. Kohli had called Bumrah a ‘national treasure’ after India lifted the trophy and stated that Team India were lucky that pacer is playing with and not against them.
“India has always been the country that is batsman-dominated, and it’s never going to change. But I am so glad and happy that we are celebrating Jasprit Bumrah. He is a once-in-a-generation bowler. We should celebrate him even more. We Chennai people appreciate bowlers a lot. He was here for an event as a chief guest 4-5 days ago. We gave him a Rajni treatment. We treat bowlers very nicely. He should be treated as a champion. I don’t want to name it, but Bumrah is the most valuable Indian cricketer right now.” Ashwin told Vimal Kumar.