‘Bumrah scares me most’: Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green

MUMBAI: Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green, singled out “the best bowler in the world”, Jasprit Bumrah, as the player who scares him the most, while weighing in on how the “cricketing relationship and rivalry” between Australia and India has “blossomed”.

Bumrah, with an action of his own, has set the international circuit on fire with his unparalleled level of consistency across all formats. He takes a couple of steps to get into motion, then shifts through gears to charge up, extends his arm to get the angle, and uses his wrist to execute a wide array of unpredictable variations.

The 31-year-old, with a mastery in pace and swing, has earned the title of the current “best in the world” from several former cricketers. Just like many opposition stars, Bumrah’s unmatched art in pace “scares” Philip Green.

Caught up with @ANI at our #SummerOfCricketevent in #Mumbai. Key drivers of our bilateral relationship are:
strategic alignment;
economic complementarity and
the “human bridge” – the one million people of Indian origin in . #diaspora pic.twitter.com/03uihAxA9B

— Philip Green OAM (@AusHCIndia) September 25, 2024

“Well, you know, on the Indian side, I don’t know who’s my favourite, but the one who really scares me is Bumrah, I mean, you know, probably the best bowler in the world. It reminds me a bit of Max Walker, as sort of ugly as Max Walker in the run-up. And then when he gets to delivering the ball, it is all pace and grace and power. I love watching him,” Green said.

India is set to tour Australia in October for three ODIs and five T20Is. After the conclusion of India’s white-ball tour, Australia will square off against England in one of the oldest rivalries existing in the sporting world.

“Well, it’s going to be a fantastic summer of cricket. We’re going to have the Indian team here for T20 in one day. We’re going to have the iconic series with the English called the Ashes, and then we’re going to have the Indian women’s cricket team later in the season, so it doesn’t get any better than that,” he added.

The cricketing rivalry between India and Australia has risen in popularity over the past couple of years. The recent surge in the growing popularity of watching the two giants compete on the field resonates in the viewing figures fetched by the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

The series was watched by 192.5M viewers on TV, recording 52 billion minutes of total watch-time across television and digital platforms. Apart from cricket, Green believes there is a huge economic opportunity between the two countries.

“Cricket is a wonderful connection between Australia and India, but there are more things to our relationship, and in particular, there’s a huge economic opportunity between Australia and India. So our pitch to the Indian business community is to say, come for the cricket, but stay for the business,” he said.

“Since I’ve been in India, I’ve caught up with how that cricketing relationship and rivalry between Australia and India has truly blossomed. It is now the apex cricket rivalry in the world, surpassing the Ashes. To beat India for Australia, to beat 1.4 billion people with a lot of cricket bats and a lot of capability, that’s a huge thing for an Australian team to be able to do,” he added. (ANI)