Maybe it was time for MS Dhoni to give Jasprit Bumrah his flowers. Enjoying his time off from competitive cricket, Dhoni might be moving away from Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket after the 2024 season. Gracing an event while Team India is touring Sri Lanka in the Gautam Gambhir era, former Indian skipper Dhoni was quizzed about his current favourite player from the national roster.

Instead of taking the usual route by choosing a premier batter between icons Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, magnanimous Dhoni nominated pace ace Bumrah for the top honour. Was it easy for Dhoni to pick Bumrah from the current crop of bowlers? Maybe. Does that mean Team India lacks world-class bowlers if Bumrah is not there? 'Definitely not'. Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Dhoni explained the same during a recently concluded promotional event interaction.

Why Bumrah is Dhoni's current favourite? Thala explains

“Current favourite, it’s easy to pick a bowler since Bumrah is there. It’s difficult to pick a batter because we have several good batters but that doesn’t mean bowlers aren’t good. It’s difficult pick one among batters as whomever I see batting, he looks the best but then I see someone else he also looks great. As long as team India are doing fine, I don’t want to pick a batter but I hope they will keep scoring runs. However, I have picked my favourite bowler,” Dhoni said.

Exceptional run at T20 World Cup

A genius of his craft, Bumrah is often dubbed as one of the greatest bowlers in the modern era. Speedster Bumrah powered Rohit Sharms's Team India to their second ICC T20 World Cup title in the Caribbean. After Dhoni first lifted the famous trophy in 2007, Bumrah-starrer India emulated the same feat by defeating South Africa in the final-over thriller. For capping off one of the greatest individual campaigns in the ICC event, Bumrah was named the Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup.

When will Bumrah make his comeback?

Bumrah bagged 15 wickets at an average of 8.26 for Rohit Sharma's Team India. He is the second Indian after Kohli to win the Player of the Tournament award at the ICC event. The 29-year-old is rested for the twin white-ball series between India and hosts Sri Lanka. The Indian speed merchant has not played for the Asian giants since the T20 World Cup. Bumrah is expected to make his return in the ongoing edition of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).