Individuals who have reached the pinnacle of their respective fields often possess a deep understanding of the effort, dedication, and skill required to achieve excellence.
Ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, widely admired for his humility and poise, on Saturday acknowledged the greatness of India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who he believes can be a potential javelin throw star.
During a segment on Star Sports, Neeraj was asked by the panelists who in the Indian cricket team he believes could excel as a javelin thrower as well.
"Jasprit Bumrah," he did not think twice to answer.
“I think it would be a fast bowler for sure. So, I think a fully fit Jasprit Bumrah will be really good at it," the two-time Olympic medallist said.
Fast bowlers and javelin throwers both require a strong, steady run-up to build momentum. Good speed and timing are extremely important, so are powerful legs, core and shoulders for an explosive finish and Bumrah possesses it all.
The 31-tyear-old, a complete match-winner, is currently the top-ranked Test bowler in the world. In the ongoing Test series against England, he took a five-wicket haul in the first innings, 10th five-wicket haul in SENA nations, making him the first Indian bowler to do so.
He also equalled former Indian skipper and legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev's feat of 12 five-wicket haul in away Tests.
Bumrah may miss the second Test at Edgbaston as part of his workload management.
On the other hand, Chopra reclaimed his No. 1 spot in men's javelin throw world rankings from Anderson Peters of Grenada following a string of brilliant performances on the international stage recently.
Neeraj has been in great form this year so far as he kickstarted the season with a win at the Potch Invitational in Potchefstroom, South Africa, in April and followed it up with a second-place finish at Doha Diamond League, where he crossed the 90-metre mark for the first time.
He went on to secure a second spot in the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland before winning back-to-back titles at Paris Diamond League and Ostrava Golden Spike, with best efforts of 88.16m and 85.29m respectively.
He will next be seen in action at the Neeraj Chopra Classic, India’s first-ever World Athletics Category ‘A’ Javelin competition headlined by himself, which will take place at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on July 5.
The event will also feature former world champions Anderson Peters and Julius Yego apart from 2016 Olympic winner Thomas Roehler and American Curtis Thompson among others.
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