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Michael Vaughan praised Jasprit Bumrah, comparing him to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. David Lloyd and Alastair Cook also lauded the Indian pacer.
Jasprit Bumrah is counted among the world’s fines fast bowlers. (PTI Photo)
Michael Vaughan feels England would have won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 if they Jasprit Bumrah in their team.
“England would have won the WC if they had Bumrah..” he shared on X, formerly Twitter, with a clip from their ‘Stick To Cricket’ podcast.
In the video, Michael Vaughan said: “I reckon, if you put Jasprit Bumrah in English cricket, they win it (T20 World Cup). Probably like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, these kind of…”
“Didn’t you say he’s the best bowler you’ve ever seen?” David Lloyd asked.
“Yeah, that I’ve seen,” Vaughan said.
“And you gotta remember, I started watching cricket, probably from the 85-86, when I really started to study cricket. He’s the best I’ve seen,” Vaughan added.
“Is he the best in a match-winning spell in Test match cricket? He’s definitely, without a shadow of doubt, the best all-format bowler. You can safely say that, can’t you? In any form, he like the best all-round bowler,” Alastair Cook said.
“Has he, like a Test match, he’s bowled some spells, and I’m not quite.. 8/15 or is he not that kind of bowler?” Cook added.
“I’ve seen him a bit in Australia produce some spells, and he has been just different,” Vaughan said.
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In fact, it was Bumrah’s India that knocked out England in the semi-final and then went on to beat New Zealand in the final by 96 runs.
Bumrah played a crucial role in India’s success, finishing as the tournament’s joint-highest wicket-taker with Varun Chakravarthy, each taking 14 wickets at an average of 12.42 and an economy rate of 6.21. He also achieved a four-wicket haul. He became the first pacer to secure a four-wicket haul in a T20 World Cup knockout match, joining spinners Ajantha Mendis (4/12 against West Indies in the 2012 final) and Shadab Khan (4/26 in the 2021 semifinal against Australia) as the third overall bowler to do so.
Bumrah now stands as the fifth-highest wicket-taker in T20 World Cup history, with 40 wickets in 26 matches at an average of 13.65 and an economy rate of 5.66. He is also the most successful pacer in the tournament’s history, surpassing Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga (38 wickets in 31 matches at an average of 20.07).
Bumrah could be considered the tournament’s best bowler ever, having won the trophy twice. In the 2024 win, he was named ‘Player of the Tournament’ with 15 wickets in eight matches at an average of 8.26. Now, in 2026, he once again topped the wicket-taking charts and earned the ‘Player of the Match’ title in the final.
(With inputs from Agencies)
March 11, 2026, 23:28 IST
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