India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah played a pivotal role in the Men in Blue’s massive 295-run victory against Australia in Perth. The bowler not only took 8 wickets throughout the match but was also the stand-in captain in place of Rohit Sharma, who had missed the Test due to the birth of his second child. Bumrah even took home the Player of the Match award for his spectacular bowling performance.
Former India bowler Ashish Nehra talked about Bumrah’s contributions in the first Australia Test and said that the player would have been sold for an incredible fee if he would have entered the IPL auction. Nehra is the coach of IPL franchise Gujarat Titans and was present during the auction as well.
Bumrah was the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) first retention pick ahead of the auction and was given a whopping fee of INR 18 crore. The pacer has been a part of the Mumbai-based franchise since 2013 and has never come under the hammer as MI have always retained his services.
While Bumrah’s value in auction is yet to be discovered, Nehra feels that even a purse of INR 520 crore would not have been enough for teams to buy him.
“As a bowler Jasprit Bumrah has done this numerous times. Rohit Sharma is not playing and you’re captaining the team in the first match in the tour. Obviously there has to be an extra amount of pressure. But the way Bumrah handled the pressure it’s extremely praiseworthy,” Nehra told Star Sports.
“The way Bumrah led the team following the 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand on home soil it’s brilliant to witness. You can’t beat Jassi (Jasprit Bumrah). If Bumrah was in the auction then anything would have happened. Even a purse of 520 crore would have been not enough for the IPL teams,” Nehra added.
