Former Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik hailed Jasprit Bumrah and said the fast bowler is as valuable as Kohinoor diamond. Bumrah was at his absolute best against England in the first innings as he returned with impressive figures of 5-83 in the first innings of the opening Test against England.

After he bagged three wickets on the second day’s play, Bumrah added wickets of Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue to wrap up England innings at 465 on Sunday. This was Bumrah’s 14th five-wicket haul in Test cricket and his 12th in foreign conditions as he continues to impress at the top level. Bumrah also became the first Asian fast bowler to take 150 wickets in SENA countries.

Karthik said Bumrah can make it work with any kind of ball in any format of the game and at the same time, he has got the guile to make the most of his rich arsenal.

“He is as valuable as the Kohinoor diamond. I hope people realise how important he is to the team across formats. He will make it work regardless of formats, bowling phase and any kind of ball. But more importantly, he has got the brain that knows what the batter is trying to do and he has got that wired very nicely. In the history of the game, for any bowler who has picked more than 200 wickets, he has the best average and that tells you he is something very special,” Karthik said while speaking to Sky Cricket.

Bumrah was the pick of the Indian bowlers but he lacked support from the other end. The other bowlers returned with 5-356 in England’s first innings and this goes to show the vast difference between Bumrah and other Indian bowlers.

Bumrah is once again going to hold the key in the second innings.