Chennai ): India head coach Gautam Gambhir labelled star pacer Jasprit Bumrah as the best fast bowler in the world in all formats. After a long injury layoff, Bumrah returned to the Indian setup and once again established himself as one of the modern-day greats.
With the stakes running high in the T20 World Cup, Bumrah upped the ante and produced match-winning moments in India's unbeaten, successful campaign.
"Bumrah is the best fast bowler in the world in all three formats. It has not happened many times in India that we have started talking about bowlers now.
It has always been about batters. India, at one stage, was a batter-obsessed nation. You have to give credit to Bumrah, [Mohammed] Shami, [Mohammed] Siraj, [Ravichandran] Ashwin, and [Ravindra] Jadeja," Gambhir said in the pre-match press conference. Bumrah thrived in the USA and the West Indies during the T20 World Cup. He ended the campaign with 15 wickets in eight matches at an average of 8.26.
He is making his return to the Test format against Bangladesh on Thursday in Chennai after starring for India in the England Test series earlier this year. Gambhir heaped praise on Bumrah for his commitment to playing Test cricket and stated that it is an honour to have a player like him in the dressing room.
"The best part is he wants to play as much Test cricket as he can. What he has done in T20 format in the West Indies to what he can do in red-ball cricket - what he did against England. It is an honour that we have got someone like Jasprit Bumrah playing for us and sitting in that dressing room, who can make a change and a difference at any stage in the game," Gambhir added.
India's squad for the 1st Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Shakib Al Hasan, Nahid Rana, Mominul Haque, Litton Kumer Das, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Zakir Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Jaker Ali Anik, Taijul Islam, Shadman Islam.