Watch: Not Virat Kohli! Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra Names This Indian Cricketer As Best Suited For His Sport
Two-time Olympic medalist Neeraj Chopra made a major revelation on Indian cricketer he feels is best suited for his sport-Javelin thrown. Neeraj won a magnificent Gold at 2020 Tokyo Olympics and then later won silver medal at Paris Olympics 2024. Notably, Neeraj is the reigning world champion and also the World No.1 in rankings in javelin. He has earlier lost the top shot to Anderson Peters but later reclaimed his throne.
Naturally every cricket fan would feel that the answer for this question is a no brainer as Only one Indian cricketer that comes close to having endurance, stealth and fitness like an athlete is none other than India's Star batter Virat Kohli but Shockingly Neeraj chose an Indian fast bowler for this role.
During a Special segment on Star Sports hosted by former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, Neeraj picked Jasprit Bumrah as the one best suited for Javelin. Chopra also shared the reasoning behind the pick, according to him fast bowlers have the required strength, technique, coordination and body needed for this sport. Neeraj also said that Bumrah would have been a successful jaelin Athlete if not for his heroics as an Indian pacer.
"I think it would be a fast bowler for sure. So, I think a fully fit Jasprit Bumrah will be good at it," Chopra said on Star Sports.
India's Golden Boy @Neeraj_chopra1 spills the beans! Who in the Indian cricket team does he think could dominate the javelin throw? Any guesses before we reveal the name?
javelin throw event on July 5, Sat, 7:00 PM, only on Star… pic.twitter.com/qaaiy61CHJ — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 27, 2025
Jasprit Bumrah Heroics
India lost the first Test against England at Headingley, Leeds by five wickets. Despite Indian batter scoring ton of runs with five centurions, Jasprit was the talk of the town as he wrecked havoc with a fifer in the first innings. Bumrah was wicketless in the second innings but kept testing English batters during the chase. Lack of support from other end proved to be fatal for India.
Bumrah's fifer helped him break the record for most five-wicket hauls by an Indian bowler in England in Test cricket. Ahead of the Leeds Test, Jasprit Bumrah was tied for the most five-wicket hauls by an Indian in England, with two fifers joining an elite group that includes Lala Amarnath, Kapil Dev, B. Chandrasekhar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vinoo Mankad, Chetan Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Nissar, and Surendranath.
In addition, this marked Bumrah's 12th five-wicket haul in overseas Tests, putting him on par with the legendary Kapil Dev for the most fifers by an Indian bowler in away matches.
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