"Will never forget Jasprit Bumrah's runs with the bat" - Aakash Chopra recalls Bumrah's heroics at Lord's
Although India couldn't win their series against England, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes Jasprit Bumrah was one of their biggest positives.
The 28-year-old ended up as the Player of the Series for the visitors, picking up 23 scalps from nine innings, while also contributing crucial runs with the bat.
Chopra was particularly impressed with the latter feature of Bumrah's game. The Indian pacer notably smashed Stuart Broad for 29 runs in the fifth Test, which is a record for most runs scored by a batter in an over in Test history.
Broad conceded 35 runs in total as it became the most expensive over of all-time in the longest format.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra recalled Bumrah's incredible partnership with Mohammad Shami that set up a famous Indian win at Lord's. He said:
"[I] Will never forget Jasprit Bumrah's runs with the bat, especially at Lord's. He did well with the ball but his batting won us there."
Shami and Bumrah put together a 89-run stand in the second innings, which was vital to India taking a 1-0 lead in the series. They remained unbeaten on 56 and 34 respectively when the visitors declared their innings.
Chopra was also impressed with Bumrah's captaincy in the Edgbaston Test and added:
"His captaincy was also good. You can punch holes by saying that the field placement was too deep, but he was captaining [in] his first Test and did well in batting, bowling and fielding."
Jasprit Bumrah won the player of the series for India - taking 23 wickets & scoring valuable runs from 5 Tests. https://t.co/7ZdIUfpifP
Aakash Chopra on India's WTC scenario
India were docked two World Test Championship (WTC) points for a slow over-rate during the Edgbaston Test against England. This means they are currently fourth in the WTC standings behind Australia, South Africa and Pakistan.
They have a two-match away series against Bangladesh and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home (four Tests) against Australia remaining.
Aakash Chopra reckons India will probably need to win all these Tests to ensure they make it into the WTC final. But he also explained why it won't be easy to whitewash Australia and stated:
"We have six games to go in this WTC cycle, four against Australia at home and then two in Bangladesh. While you would expect India to win all six, New Zealand showed that even at home it's not easy to win. Australia are playing really well and are certainly not pushovers. So it will be really difficult to whitewash them."
It will be interesting to see what changes India make to their XI after a comprehensive loss at Edgbaston.