The accolades keep flowing for Jasprit Bumrah. After rattling England in what is being hailed as one of the best displays by any fast bowler in a Test match in India, Bumrah became the first Indian pacer to rise to the top of ICC Test rankings. England’s current and former cricketers were already in awe of Bumrah and now former South Africa pacer Vernon Philander termed the Indian cricketer as the most completer bowler of the world.
Bumrah picked up 9/91 in the Visakhapatnam Test to help India win the match by 106 runs and square the five-match series 1-1. It was his six-wicket haul in the first innings that gave India the advantage. Bumrah bowled an unplayable yorker to Ollie Pope that is likely to be talked about in years to come.
Philander, who has played 64 Tests for South Africa with 225 wickets against his name, said Bumrah doesn’t seem to have any chinks in his armour.
“Bumrah is the (most) complete bowler at the moment. He has got magnificent skills and he has also learnt the trade of holding a line and length and that is the reason behind his success at the Test level,” Philander told ‘PTI Bhasha’ in an interview on the sidelines of the SA T20 Tournament here.”Initially, he wanted to bowl wicket-taking deliveries all the time and leaked runs but now he has learnt consistency,” he pointed out.
The T20 World Cup will be held in June across the West Indies and the USA and inaugural champions India would be among the title favourites.
Philander said the team will rely heavily on Bumrah as he has become the sort of bowler who can never be written off in the shortest format.
“He swings the new ball, brings the stumps into the play and challenges the batters upfront. He is phenomenal with those change-ups and lethal yorkers and that is the skill set you want in the T20 World Cup,” he explained.
“I feel he is going to play a massive part in the tournament and perhaps also be the best seamer,” said the veteran Philander, who is the second fastest ever to reach 50 Test wickets by touching the milestone in just seven games, was also full of praise for Bumrah’s pace colleague Mohammed Shami and said that he “uses his seam beautifully”.
“…the way he has gone to dominate at the moment is really exciting to see. The plans he had adopted when he came to bowl in South Africa. It is a tough place to bowl and one has to change the mindset from bowling on the flat subcontinental pitches to bowling here,” he said.
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