Former India cricketer-turned commentator Irfan Pathan has said that Jasprit Bumrah didn’t live up to the standards of being the number one bowler during the series in England. Bumrah played three out of the five Tests in the series and scalped 14 wickets from three matches (5 innings) at an average of 26 and an economy of 3.04.

The speedster bowled 119.4 overs across three Tests but didn’t look at his best in the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester, where he leaked over 100 runs for the first time in his career. Analysing his performance after the series, Pathan said that even though he got his names on the honours board, he didn’t live up the expectations of a number one bowler.

To be fair, whenever he played, he did perform. He took a five-wicket haul and got his name on the Lord’s honours board. But when you are the number one bowler, there is an expectation of number one-level performance, and I felt he did not quite live up to that,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

Furthermore, he also mentioned that there were occasions when Bumrah could’ve pushed himself in the series but he didn’t.

“There were moments, like when a sixth over was needed. I spoke about this during commentary as well. Joe Root had been dismissed by him 11 times, and in that Lord’s Test, Bumrah bowled five overs. Just one more over, the sixth, could have pushed harder. I felt he held back a little there. There was also some pick-and-choose, which I have always been against, and that was visible too,” he added.

Ahead of the tour, Bumrah had revealed that he would only play in three matches during the series. The team management was also considerate in managing Bumrah’s workload and not putting extra pressure on him as he was returning from an injury. It remains to be seen if Bumrah will be available for the home Test series against West Indies and South Africa in October-November, as he will be featuring in the T20 World Cup 2026 as well.

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