Legendary South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini believes Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is a unique talent, even going so far as to say that India wouldn’t be the same without him. The Indian bowling line-up revolves around Jasprit Bumrah.
Jasprit Bumrah is part of the Indian squad for the ongoing two-match Test series in South Africa. Bumrah bowled exceptionally well on the second day of the test match, taking two crucial wickets at an economy of only 3 RPO. While Bumrah was unable to get support from the other end, the other three fast bowlers gave away runs with an economy of over 4 RPO.
Bumrah leads India’s pace bowling unit in all three game formats. He has taken 128 wickets at an average of 21.99 in 30 Test matches, including eight five-wicket hauls. At an average of under 20, Jasprit Bumrah has also claimed 149 wickets in 89 ODIs and 74 wickets in 62 T20Is.
“India isn’t the same team without Bumrah” – Makhaya Ntini
Ntini, who was quoted by news agency PTI, described Bumrah as a very talented fast bowler and added that he releases the ball from the top of his hand and brings the ball back in. While bowling some variations, his action remains the same; that’s the beautiful thing about his bowling.
“Look where Bumrah releases the ball. He releases the ball from the top of his head. So, he gets the angle to bring the ball back in. He can get deliveries to straighten after pitching. I don’t know if he has powerful wrists and action is always the same, that’s how beautiful it is,” he commented.
Further adding to it, Ntini said that his yorkers are very precise; he doesn’t miss any while bowling yorkers. So because of his skills, India isn’t the same team without Jasprit Bumrah.
“His yorkers, he doesn’t miss any, those are the things everyone gets to enjoy. India isn’t the [same] team without Bumrah,” the former Proteas pacer went on to add,” he said.
Due to a back injury, Jasprit Bumrah missed several months of action. However, he returned from injury admirably during this year’s Ireland tour, and he hasn’t looked back since. With an average of 18.65 and 20 wickets in 11 matches, he had an outstanding ODI World Cup campaign.
“The number 6 is right for him in Test match cricket”- Ravi Shastri on KL Rahul
In the Test series against South Africa, Bumrah will be India’s most important player with the ball, but KL Rahul will be an important one with the bat. On the second day of the Centurion Test on Wednesday, the latter showed just that with a gutsy century.
Rahul scored a magnificent 101 off 137 balls as Team India progressed from 208/8 to 245 on day two of the boxing day test match. While discussing Team India’s performance on Star Sports, Ravi Shastri complimented KL Rahul:
‘He has made batting look easy. When you look at his footwork and the balance, it was pretty amazing. The knock also shows that the number is right for him in Test match cricket. I think he will get a lot of runs for India in the middle order.”
South Africa will resume their first innings in Centurion with Dean Elgar (140*) and Marco Jansen (3*) at the crease. Bumrah and Siraj got two wickets, while debutant Prasidh Krishna took his first test wicket at the end of day two.