After Jasprit Bumrah’s heroics in the 2026 T20 World Cup final, Aussie legend Glenn McGrath has raised concerns about the pacer’s future in Test cricket. McGrath feels that Bumrah might reduce his Test appearances, so he can make the white-ball format his priority.
Bumrah finished as the highest-wicket taker in the tournament. Although he and teammate Varun Chakaravarthy (14) took the same number of wickets, Bumrah’s economy rate of 6.21 puts him on top. Varun ended his campaign with an economy rate of 9.26.
Bumrah was also adjudged as Player of the Match in the final as his 4/15 saw New Zealand get bowled out for 159 in 19 overs during their chase of 256 runs.
‘Is he going to just start focusing on white-ball cricket?’: Glenn McGrath
Speaking on the Fast Bowling Cartel, McGrath said, “My concern, as he’s a little bit older now, is that playing back-to-back Test matches is getting tougher for him. Is he going to just start focusing on white-ball cricket? That’ll be a massive loss to Test cricket if he did. We might only see him rarely in Test matches, maybe against an Australia.”
Hailing his skillset, McGrath said, “Just how good is he. When he comes on, he looks completely different to every other fast bowler. Batters try to lineup every other bowler when they are set, but not him. What I like about Bumrah is how he bowls the really good Test match length successfully in T20s. His other variations are all brilliant as well. He is just a gun.”
Bumrah was a crucial member of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning team too. Meanwhile, he has also helped India win the Asia Cup titles in 2016, 2018, 2023, and 2025.
Chasing 256, New Zealand failed to get going as Bumrah’s four-wicket haul dismantled their batting order. The speedster accounted for the dismissals of Rachin Ravindra (1), Mitchell Santner (43), James Neesham (8), and Matt Henry (0). Meanwhile, Axar Patel took three wickets. Initially, Sanju Samson’s 46-ball 89 took India to 255/5 in 20 overs. Ishan Kishan (54) and Abhishek Sharma (52) also got half-centuries for the hosts in Ahmedabad.
