ENG vs IND | Ajit Agarkar lauds India captain Jasprit Bumrah for his all-round heroics

Former India all-rounder Ajit Agarkar applauded stand-in India captain Jasprit Bumrah for his heroic all-round effort on Day 2 of the rescheduled fifth and final Test against England at Edgbaston on Sunday. 

Bumrah did amazingly well with the bat and then removed England's top order with the ball to put Team India in a strong position on Saturday.

"Bumrah and Shami's partnership in the Lord's Test in the same series helped India win the match. Today Stuart Broad wasn't great, and Jasprit Bumrah cashed in. Test cricket at the moment seems very easy," Ajit Agarkar said while speaking on Sony Liv.

However, only 38.5 overs could take place on the rain-hit second day, and Jasprit Bumrah successfully dominated much of it, first with the bat and then with the ball. 

Because of his spectacular batting show, England's veteran seamer Stuart Broad registered Test cricket's most expensive over, giving away 35 runs in eight deliveries, including a wide and a no-ball.

Team India's stand-in captain then dismantled England's top order with triple strikes, and the hosts reduced on 84-5, 332 runs behind and requiring 133 runs to avoid the follow-on, in response to India's first-innings 416 as well.

"Bowl well, get heaps of wickets, get runs, become captain, and put India in a terrific position. But I think it's his bowling. He just bowled at the right speed. His line and length were immaculate as always," former India speedster Ajit Agarkar added.

However, Team India are 2-1 up in the Test series, which could not be completed last year after the COVID-19 outbreak in the India camp prior to the final match at Old Trafford.

On the other hand, former India head coach Ravi Shastri praised Jasprit Bumrah after the pacer's stunning knock, saying "what he saw today was absolutely bizarre." 

"Now, don't tell me I was again on the mic when 35 runs were scored. I thought I'd seen it all, but not really, you know 36 from Yuvraj (Singh), 36 I had hit myself. And today, what I saw was bizarre," said Shastri in a video uploaded by BCCI. 

“It's something we would have never imagined, the world record from Jasprit Bumrah, batting at number 10 as captain of India for the first time, going past (Brian) Lara, George Bailey and Keshav Maharaj," further added Shastri.

"29 off the over; the bowler the same, who Yuvraj hit for six sixes, Stuart Broad, going for that many (in 2007 Men's T20 World Cup, South Africa). And the entire over went for 35, which is again a world record, the previous highest was 28,"

“So, you know, you feel you've seen everything, but you must realise you're still a student in the game. Something would surprise you on another day, but what I saw today was something absolutely bizarre. Jasprit Bumrah breaking the world record of getting 29 off his bat in a 35 run over," he concluded.

It will also be interesting how Team India will perform in the rest of the days remaining in the Test match.