Veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh was all praise for Mumbai Indians’ (MI) star pacer Jasprit Bumrah after the right-armer took five wickets against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Bumrah gave MI their biggest breakthrough right at the start of the match by removing Virat Kohli, the tournament’s top-scorer and RCB’s most important batter, and putting his side in the driving seat from the very start.
Now, with 10 wickets from five matches, the MI pacer shares the Orange Cap as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with RCB’s Yuzvendra Chahal.
Talking after Mumbai’s astounding win, Harbhajan heaped praise on Bumrah saying he is someone who loves to learn and does not stop even after achieving big things.
“To see him bowl from day one and today, there’s a huge difference. He’s been a great learner of the game….He wants to learn every day, even if he got five wickets today, he’ll go back and tomorrow, he’ll see the videos of himself and see where he can improve,” Harbhajan said on Star Sports.
The former spinner then went on to say that while everything thinks that Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are the superstars of IPL as a batter is always considered for such titles, it is Bumrah who deserves to be called by such a name.
“And he’s so calm, composed. When it comes to pressure situation, no one does better than what he does. People often talk about Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni, because it’s a batter’s game. But, if you talk about the superstars of the game, he’s by far I think, the superstar of the IPL.
“He wins games on his day, like nothing. So, how many batters have done that?” he asked.
He also added that apart from Bumrah, only Sri Lanka’s former pacer Lasith Malinga, who is the bowling coach of MI, comes close to changing games all by himself.
“If you count, like three to four batters, but if you see the bowlers, it’s only Bumrah or Malinga across the format. So, unbelievable. So, the basic thing is he wants to learn and he wants to get better every day.
“And he’s still very humble, very calm, and very, very hardworking…It’s a great lesson for all the youngsters. When you’re practicing, practice like you’re playing the game,” he pointed out.
