‘Jasprit Bumrah one of the best bowlers who’s ever played’:Watson backs Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma’s inclusion for 2027 WC

Former Australian cricketer Shane Watson has lavished praise on Jasprit Bumrah, calling him the best bowler that has ever played the game of cricket. Bumrah, ever since making his debut in 2016, has gone on to establish himself as a modern-day great, excelling across formats. The pacer has earned praise from all quarters in the cricket world and Watson is among them. The premier pacer played a pivotal role in India’s record third T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year. ‘Bumrah one of the best fast bowlers that’s ever played’ Speaking in an interview, Watson praised Bumrah’s skill set and the fact that he has worked and developed it. Watson has not faced much of Bumrah in T20s, facing 54 balls where he scored 47 runs. The Indian pacer has dismissed Watson twice. “I only faced Jasprit Bumrah in T20 cricket, but that was something else to be able to face him. At the start of his career, he was so different. His skill set, as we can see, has evolved into, how he’s evolved his skills as well,” he said, when speaking on the most fearsome bowlers he has faced in his career. Harping on the technical aspects of Bumrah’s game, Watson added, “He’s certainly something else. I would say across all three formats of the game, he is definitely one of the best bowlers that’s ever played. One of the best fast bowlers who’s ever played. He can swing the ball both ways with a brand new ball. He obviously bowls reverses, the ball’s reversing. The execution of his yorkers, his bounces, is so often absolutely spot on. His change of pace, his slow ball is really, really hard to pick up. It’s so deceptive as well,” he added. Also read: Will Phil Salt open with Virat Kohli in Qualifier 1?: RCB captain Rajat Patidar answers big question, praises Venkatesh Iyer ‘Would be mad not to pick someone of their (Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli) quality’ One of the biggest discussions in the cricket fraternity has been the possibility of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli featuring in the 2027 ODI World Cup. Uncertainty was cast on their future in international cricket after they had retired from Tests in 2025, leaving them as active cricketers only in ODIs. Rohit has his sights set on the 2027 ODI World Cup and Kohli, a few days ago, made his feelings clear about participating in the premier event next year, slated to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Joining in the discussion, Watson opined that their experience will certainly make a difference. “I think about Virat Kohli, who certainly is still at his best. He’s still scored. He’s scored a lot of One-Day hundreds recently for India. While you’ve got someone who’s still at his best, he is fiercely determined to be able to bring the very best that he can,” he said. “And then you’ve got Rohit Sharma. If he’s at the peak of his powers and continues to score runs for India as well, then you would be mad not to take those guys into a one-day World Cup because you know that under pressure, how they’re going to react,” Watson added. Has Shreyas Iyer done enough to secure a T20I return for India? The Punjab Kings captain has certainly made a strong case for a T20I return. Iyer captained the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a third IPL title in 2024 and has been impressive with both bat and with the captain’s hat for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) as well. Recently, he smashed his maiden IPL ton, helping his team break a six-match losing run. “He is an incredible batter. He makes things look very easy and he scores very quickly. And it looks like he’s not even really taking risks. So, there’s no question in my mind that he’s definitely good enough to be able to get back in the Indian team and dominate international cricket across the board. Not just T20 cricket,” the KKR assistant coach said. Iyer has also been reported to be a frontrunner for India’s T20I captaincy, with Suryakumar Yadav’s future uncertain. Watson is associated as a ‘Super Coach’ with Kabuni which is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) powered platform aimed at changing the way cricketers train. The platform captures details like ball-tracking and player movement in real time during training and converts them into feedback for the cricketers. “I find is incredible around Kabuni is to be able to scale me and my coaching and technical coaching philosophies to be able to think that it’s going to be possible for someone, whether it’s in England, whether it’s in India, whether it’s in any part around the world is going to be able to get access to, to be able to be coached by my digital twin,” Watson said. “So that, that it’s going to be me talking to them. It’s going to be me with my understanding and technical philosophies, been able to get that immediate feedback straight away,” he added.