Jasprit Bumrah took a fiery five-for at Headingley, which didn’t just help India gain a crucial edge over England, it also lit the fuse on a fierce debate, thanks to former India pacer Varun Aaron. His claim? Bumrah is better than Wasim Akram.
A Compliment or a Controversy?
Speaking on a podcast after Bumrah’s performance, Aaron didn’t hold back.
“Calling him a genius would be an understatement,” he said.
“He’s now gone past Wasim Akram in terms of wickets in SENA countries. That says it all for me.
“Wasim was arguably the best fast bowler to walk the face of the earth—and Bumrah is pretty much the same, if not better.”
And just like that, Aaron dropped a comparison bomb that split cricket fans into two camps: Bumrah’s new-age believers and Wasim’s old-school loyalists.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Let’s take a breath and look at the numbers.
Jasprit Bumrah now has 150 Test wickets in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) conditions, more than any other Asian bowler. And he did it in just 60 innings.
Compare that to:
- Wasim Akram – 146 wickets
- Anil Kumble – 141
- Ishant Sharma – 130
- Muttiah Muralitharan – 125
That alone is no small feat. But it gets better.
Bumrah also matched Kapil Dev’s long-standing Indian record of 12 five-wicket hauls in away Tests, needing just 34 matches to do so—Kapil did it in 66.
Here’s how India’s top overseas five-for list looks:
- Jasprit Bumrah – 12 (in 34 matches)
- Kapil Dev – 12 (in 66 matches)
- Ishant Sharma – 9
- Zaheer Khan – 8
- Irfan Pathan – 7
Jasprit Bumrah’s Magic at Headingley
If you missed the Headingley Test, here’s a quick recap of Bumrah’s hit list:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, and Josh Tongue. Classic Bumrah—wrist-snap, seam movement, and pinpoint yorkers. He made a strong England batting lineup look pedestrian.
Now, here’s the thing. Comparing across eras is always tricky. Different pitches, different formats, different fitness standards. Wasim Akram operated with reverse swing wizardry in the ’90s, often with a semi-cooked ball and no luxury of reviews.
Bumrah, meanwhile, is a product of the modern game—fitness, data analysis, and biomechanics. But here’s what’s undeniable: Bumrah is doing things no Asian fast bowler has done before, and he’s doing it in style.
Whether or not he’s “better” than Wasim is subjective. But he’s certainly entering a league of his own.
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