ICC World Cup 2023: 'India's X-factor!' Gautam Gambhir points out Men in Blue's weapon in WC

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Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir called Jasprit Bumrah the 'X-Factor' of the Indian team at the ICC World Cup 2023 after the pacer took his best bowling figure in the tournament (4/39) against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

The four-wicket spell came on a flat track of the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, which later saw Rohit Sharma slam a 63-ball century. Three of Jasprit Bumrah's wickets came in the death overs. Gautam Gambhir, who played for years at the venue for Delhi, couldn't stop himself from admiring the pacer.

"He is just a phenomenal performer. He is just a phenomenal and world-class bowler. I have always said this and will maintain that whichever team Jasprit Bumrah plays for, he has got to be your X-factor," Gambhir said during the mid-innings interval.

"Whether it's in Chennai, or Delhi, whether he bowls with the new ball or old, I haven't seen a lot of cricketers in this World Cup who can bowl at any stage of the game and have the same impact. Some bowl well with the new ball, some ball well in the death, but Bumrah is one who can bowl brilliantly everywhere."

Gautam Gambhir was impressed with the fact that how reliable Jasprit Bumrah is as a strike bowler to his captain Rohit Sharma, who also has the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya among other wicket-taking options.

"It's not many times that a captain goes to a fast bowler for a breakthrough. He either turns to a finger or wrist spinner so that just shows the quality of this bowler. He got India back on track because at one stage, it was looking as if Afghanistan might just get to 300 and that would have been a challenging total. And the reason it didn't happen because Bumrah got Nabi out. He was looking dangerous. Like I said, he is just a very complete bowler," said Gambhir.