Cricket enthusiasts relish comparisons – particularly across generations. Whether it’s Virat Kohli vs Sachin Tendulkar, or the slightly lesser but no less fascinating Jasprit Bumrah vs Wasim Akram, these arguments tend to evoke intense social media debates and expert panel discussions as well. Whereas Kohli vs Sachin is the more established tale, Bumrah’s steady brilliance has prompted many to compare his influence with Pakistan’s all-time great left-arm maestro, Wasim Akram.
Interestingly, both Akram and Bumrah possess varied styles in their armoury – one is right-arm with a distinct, slinging action; the other was the quintessential left-arm pacer. However, what unites them is their mastery of toe-crushing yorkers, reverse swing, and a slower ball that deceives batsmen—abilities that have haunted batsmen across formats and generations.
But when confronted with these comparisons, Wasim Akram himself adopted a humble, philosophical tone.
“Jasprit Bumrah is a great bowler. He has an unconventional action, serious pace, and credit to the Indian cricket board for the way they’ve handled him,” Akram said on GeoTV’s Haarna Mana Hai programme.
“Comparing bowlers of the 90s with today’s bowlers – it just doesn’t work. He’s a right-arm bowler, I was a left-arm bowler. These social media arguments are like ‘Begane ki shaadi mein Abdullah deewana’ – I don’t care, and neither does he. He’s great in his own time. I did my job during my time. But yes, he’s a very, very talented bowler.”
Akram’s words reflect a common opinion among retired cricketers: every generation has its background, and excellence must be enjoyed without comparing legends.
Bumrah Has Even Trounced Wasim in SENA Countries
Participating in the same show, ex-Indian bowler Varun Aaron had no qualms in showering praise on Bumrah’s remarkable ascension in international cricket.
“Describing Bumrah as a genius might be doing him less than justice. He’s already surpassed Wasim Akram in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) nations wickets.”
“That says it all. Wasim is perhaps the greatest fast bowler in history and Bumrah is there, or even better in some respects.”
Aaron’s words are supported by statistics – Bumrah has been India’s match-winning paceman in foreign tours, consistently producing in the moment with surgical-like accuracy.
Bumrah’s Wrist Does Magic Others Can’t
Veteran Australian pacer Shaun Tait, who was famous for his raw speed, was also effusive in technical appreciation of Bumrah’s specialized skills in a recent interview with The Indian Express.
“What sets Bumrah apart is that he can swing and seam the ball with such control. His wrist position enables him to get more movement than anyone else,” Tait said.
“He can swing the ball both ways and get seam off helpful conditions. To top that, his bouncer is sharp and aggressive. He’s got everything.”
Tait’s analysis points out what makes Bumrah such a torment for batsmen – unpredictability backed with pinpoint precision, and the sort of consistency that is not common among today’s fast bowlers.
A Bowler Outside the Numbers
Whereas it is easy to compare Bumrah with greats such as Wasim Akram, the discussion possibly overlooks the context. Bumrah is forging his own path in a completely different time—the crammed calendars, high-performance examination, and physically taxing formats.
Still, in it all, the 30-year-old keeps on going, winning games for India irrespective of conditions. Whether he ever overtakes Akram in statistics or not may be interesting to fans and analysts, but to the players themselves – it’s just about doing their job, motivating the next generation, and improving the game more than they found it.
So perhaps Wasim put it most eloquently – “He is a great of today. I was from my time. I performed my task.”
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