Even a purse of 520 crore would not be enough for Jasprit Bumrah: Ashish Nehra
Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra has said that even an auction purse of Rs 520 crore won’t be enough for the teams to buy him. Notably, Bumrah recently put up another match-winning performance for India as he guided them to a 295-run win over Australia in the first Test of the five-match series in Perth. Bumrah registered match figures of 8/72 and was adjudged Player of the Match.
Following his sensational bowling and leadership in the series opener, Nehra was highly impressed with Bumrah and said that no one can beat him. The former seamer further extolled the speedster saying that his value is a lot more than Rs 520 crore and teams would’ve gone berserk if he ever came into the auction.
“The way Bumrah led the team (in Perth) following the 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand on home soil, it’s brilliant to witness. You can’t beat Jassi! If Bumrah was in the auction, then anything would have happened. Even a purse of 520 crore would not have been enough for the IPL teams,” said Nehra on Star Sports.
Bumrah was retained for Rs 18 crore by Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of IPL 2025 auction and was given the highest amount among retained players in the franchise. Further speaking ahead, Nehra praised Bumrah for handling the pressure of captaincy in Rohit Sharma’s absence.
The way Bumrah handled the pressure it’s extremely praiseworthy: Nehra
“As a bowler Jasprit Bumrah has done this (taken wickets to win a match) numerous times. Rohit Sharma is not playing and you’re captaining the team in the first match on the tour. Obviously, there has to be an extra amount of pressure. But the way Bumrah handled the pressure it’s extremely praiseworthy,” Nehra added.
Following his match-winning performance in Perth, Bumrah returned to the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings as he climbed two places to be at the top spot with 883 ratings to his name. The India speedster earlier held the top spot in February 2024 after registering his second best match figures of his career. He further reclaimed the top spot after the Test series against Bangladesh in October. The ace pacer will be eager to continue his rich form in the second Test of the series and help India go 2-0 up.
