Virat Kohli believes Jasprit Bumrah is the toughest bowler he has ever faced, calling him the best across all formats.
Virat Kohli has hailed Jasprit Bumrah as the best bowler across formats, calling him the toughest opponent he has faced. Kohli, who has encountered Bumrah multiple times in the IPL, acknowledged the challenge of batting against the 31-year-old pacer from Ahmedabad.
The batting star admitted that Bumrah had dismissed him several times in the IPL but also noted his own success against the Mumbai Indians bowler. Facing Bumrah in the nets, according to Kohli, feels like a real match due to the high intensity.
“No doubt about the fact that Jasprit (Bumrah) is the best bowler in the world across all the formats. He’s gotten me out a few times in the IPL. I’ve had success against him in the IPL, so whenever I face him, it’s like, ‘Okay, it’s going to be fun,’ because we don’t get to do that in the nets,” Kohli said in a video shared by RCB’s official social media handles.
Notably, Jasprit Bumrah made his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians, against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The 19-year-old pacer dismissed Virat Kohli for his first wicket. He finished with figures of 3/32 in four overs.
“I mean, even he and I in the nets, it’s like playing a match. The intensity is like we play a match in the IPL, where every ball is like, I wanted to hit him for runs, and he wants to get me out, and I try not to get out of him, so you can sense it like he’s at match intensity, I’m at match intensity. So today he’s probably the marker that I keep when I play against him in the nets regularly; that I would say is the most enjoyable and the toughest challenge,” Kohli added.
“𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚, ‘𝙊𝙠𝙖𝙮, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙣.'” 🗣
Ever wondered who’s the toughest bowler Virat’s ever faced? 🤔 Catch him spill the tea, at the 𝗥𝗖𝗕 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝗯 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁… pic.twitter.com/36F8d8twN6
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 17, 2025
Bumrah has played 133 IPL matches, taking 165 wickets. He is among the three players to win five IPL titles with Mumbai Indians. Over the years, he has established himself as one of the league’s most dominant bowlers.
