Basit Ali, a former Pakistani cricketer, paid tribute to lead Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah because Team India is preparing for their series with the two-Test Bangladesh. As per him, the Indian cricketer is an exceptional wicket-taker regardless of the prevailing conditions.
The 53-year-old spoke about how should India take note of Bangladesh ahead of their series on his YouTube channel. According to him, World Test Championship (WTC) must remain the focus for the Rohit Sharma-led side when it comes to not risking too much in terms of 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 former Pakistani batter.
As for Basit’s opinion on which players would be included in the India team, he thinks those players would probably come from India A. A report earlier this week by PTI indicated that Musheer Khan who performed well during Duleep Trophy 2024, would play for the A team travelling to Australia ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
In Australia, the A-team comprises of all those players who are yet to be examined by the team that is being checked. However, even though I am telling you this about 10 days prior, I still believe spin will be taken up by India and they must stick to it,” said Basit.
According to former Pakistani player, India should ideally choose spinners since both Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are fast bowlers who would do just fine in flat tracks that give little batting advantage. He pointed to Bumrah’s motion as an element of misdirection while saying that ability wise he was far ahead such that success did not depend on weather condition or not.
Basit Ali said: “This is because Bumrah as well as Siraj are kinds of bobbing bowlers who can easily reverse ball even if such is done on a very gentle yard In fact, take into account how he bowls poorly against batters, particularly in a cement yard.”
“Other bowlers rely on their form and rhythm. With one ball, he sends the batter back and then another. He is so deceptive; his slow ball is always right and yorker too. He does similar types of deliveries at death overs in white ball matches as well,” he said.
For quite some time now, this 30-year-old Ahmedabad pace bowler has been India’s best friend for quite a while, and there are no indications that he plans to retire soon as he approaches becoming the greatest bowler ever from India.
