Yuvraj Singh is all praise for Jasprit Bumrah after the pacer picked up five wickets, three of which came in successive balls in the ninth over, on day two of the second Test against the West Indies.
In a tweet, Singh said, “Rather I am not surprised because you are world number one and that’s how you show it”.
Later, in an interview with The Times of India, Singh called Bumrah a “class act”. “He is a once-in-a-generation kind of bowler.”
Meanwhile, Bumrah said he owes his hat-trick to the captain. Virat Kohli was caught on the stump mic saying, “What a bowler, man! What a bowler”, after Bumrah removed one the West Indies batsmen, according to PTI.
Kohli insisted on a review after Roston Chase was initially given not out by the on-field umpire Paul Reiffel. The review was correct and Bumrah became only the third Indian to claim a hat-trick in Test cricket after Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan.
“Actually I didn’t know, I was not very sure of the appeal, I thought it was bat so I didn’t appeal so much, but it was a good review in the end. So, I think, I owe that hat-trick to the captain,” Bumrah said as Kohli held the mic for ‘BCCI TV’ during an interaction.
What Harbhajan and Pathan said:
Harbhajan Singh also told PTI that the hat-trick belongs to Kohli as much as it belongs to Bumrah. “The bowler wasn’t convinced but the skipper had a gut feeling. What if Virat wouldn’t have gone for that DRS? It was a brilliant call by the skipper which complemented his magnificent effort,” Harbhajan told PTI.
Harbhajan added that Bumrah is the biggest blessing that Indian cricket could have had.
“Indian cricket is blessed to have a match winner like Bumrah. This hat-trick will only help his legend grow but even without that he is an incredible performer. I mean 5 wickets in 7 overs in last game and 6 wickets in 9 overs in this game. You can’t ask for more. He is a rare diamond,” he told PTI.
Pathan welcomed Bumrah to the “the #Hattrick club”.
(With PTI inputs)