Bumrah took 32 wickets at 13.06 before pulling up injured midway through Australia’s first innings at the SCG. India’s other quicks were able to secure a four-run lead, but in Bumrah’s absence Australia chased down 162 on the third day to win the series 3-1.
“The thing I’ve thought about Bumrah, after the series finished and I was sitting and thinking about his performances, I actually think he’s the best fast bowler ever across all three formats,” Clarke told ESPN’s Around The Wicket.
“I know a lot of great fast bowlers, Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, didn’t get to play T20 cricket so I’m not talking about those guys, but in regards to anyone who has played all three formats, I think he might be the best ever. He’s actually that good in any conditions, that’s what makes him great; any conditions, any format, this guy’s a freak.”
Bumrah blew Australia away in Perth with eight wickets, claimed a six-wicket haul in the first innings at the Gabba and almost turned the MCG Test on its head with his burst on the fourth afternoon. He then removed Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne early in Australia’s first innings at the SCG – the former following a confrontation with Sam Konstas – but could only managed one over after lunch on the second day when the game was in the balance.
“I reckon India were probably 20 runs short [in Sydney],” Clarke said. “I reckon a 180 lead, with Bumrah in the team, I think India are home. I think Bumrah is that good…he’s so much better than the other bowlers they had in the team.”
Among India’s other quicks, Mohammed Siraj was the next highest wicket-taker with 20 at 31.15 while Prasidh Krishna’s six wickets in Sydney suggested he might have been worth a run earlier in the series. However, Australia managed totals over 400 in both Brisbane and Melbourne, the latter with a short turnaround into Sydney, and Aaron Finch believed their tactics eventually paid dividends.
“Australia were prepared to play the long game with Jasprit Bumrah,” Finch told Around The Wicket. “They wanted to make him bowl over and over and over, make him come back for one more spell, bowl another three, four, five [more] overs and in the end it worked, they broke him in the end. They played that long game, they won.
“Had he bowled in the last innings in Sydney, would Australia have got over the line? Think they still just get over the line, but it would have been a lot more difficult than it was.”
