Buttler, who has been facing Bumrah for several years in international cricket and in the IPL, was asked in the post match press conference if he agreed with former England captain Nasser Hussain’s assessment that Bumrah was the “best bowler” across all formats.
England endured a tough day in the office on Tuesday during the 1st ODI against India, as they were bowled out for a paltry 110. Jasprit Bumrah was the destroyer-in-chief as he ended with his best ODI figures of 6/19. Bumrah dismissed four England batters on duck, which included opener Jason Roy, batting great Joe Root, the in-form Jonny Bairstow and the big-hitting Liam Livingstone.
Bumrah’s exploits helped India win the match by 10 wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the series. It was also England’s lowest ever ODI total against the Indians, beating the previous worst of 125, that was registered in 2006 in Jaipur.
Bumrah has now moved back to the top of the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers after his 6-wicket haul in the match.
Buttler, who has been facing Bumrah for several years in international cricket and in the IPL, was asked in the post match press conference if he agreed with former England captain Nasser Hussain’s assessment that Bumrah was the “best bowler” across all formats.
To this Buttler said, “There’s no doubt that he’s a fantastic bowler. He’s been one of the leading bowlers in the world for a number of years now. And it looks like he’s going from strength to strength. That’s the great challenge of playing against India, you get to face these fantastic bowlers and batsmen. That’s why you want to play international cricket to challenge yourself against the best players. No doubt he’s one of the best and we look forward to the challenge again on Thursday to try and get the better of him.”
The reporter then again asked Buttler whether he thought Bumrah was “one of the best” or “the best”.
Buttler was visibly uncomfortable by the reporter’s persistence and eventually said, “You decide”, which led to some laughter from the media persons present in the room.
India take on England in the second match of the series on Thursday.
