With Team India gearing up for their upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, the former Pakistan cricketer, Basit Ali had some huge praise for the lead pacer, Jasprit Bumrah. The former Pakistan international believes that the Indian pacer is an elite wicket-taker who is not reliant on the conditions at hand.
The 53-year-old spoke on his YouTube channel, discussing India’s focus ahead of the Bangladesh series. He believes India’s only focus would be the World Test Championship (WTC) where the Rohit Sharma-led side would not be interested in taking too many risks regarding the team composition.
“They don’t care whether it is Nepal, Bangladesh or Pakistan. The other bilateral series that are going on, will give some of the boys a chance. But not in the ICC event. They will go with a solid squad, be it a home series against Bangladesh, New Zealand or a tour to Australia,” said the former Pakistan batter.
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As for the players that the Indian team would be looking to have a look at, Basit reckons that those players would be part of the India A setup. An earlier report by PTI had suggested that Musheer Khan, who had a successful outing in the opening game of the Duleep Trophy 2024, would be part of the A squad that travels to Australia ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“The A-team on the other hand who are going to Australia is where all the other players the team wants to check would be playing. I am telling you this around 10 days before but still, I think India will go with the spin-route and I think they should stick with that,” Basit commented.
The former Pakistan player believes that India should opt for a spin-heavy route as the pace duo of Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj can get the job done even on a flat track that does not offer much to the bowler. He pointed out Bumrah’s action which makes him deceptive and his abilities are vastly superior that the conditions do not play a role in whether he is successful or not.
Basit Ali shared, “Because Bumrah and Siraj are the kind of bowlers that even on a flat track they can get the ball to reverse and get wickets. Especially Bumrah. Even if you play Bumrah on a cement track, his action is so awkward that he deceives the batters.
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“The other bowlers depend on their form and rhythm. He comes and just like that he gets the batter out and then another. He is very deceptive, his slower one is accurate and his yorker is as well. The same kind of bowling he does in the death overs in the white-ball games, he can do it in Test cricket as well,” he added.
The 30-year-old pacer from Ahmedabad has been India’s go-to man for quite some time now, and there are no signs that he intends on stopping anytime soon as he is on the journey to being India’s greatest bowler in their cricketing history.
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