Former Australian speedster Brett Lee has picked India’s Jasprit Bumrah as one of his top three fast bowlers for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup, slated to begin in England on May 30.
“What a wonderful bowler,” said Lee. “He’s got a good record, wonderful yorker, good pace.”
Bumrah has claimed 85 wickets in 49 one-day internationals, taking a wicket every 29.4 deliveries at a cost of 22.15 runs each.
While he is potent with the new ball, it’s at the end of an innings where Bumrah really shines.
Besides Bumrah, Lee picked compatriots Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins as the other two fast bowlers who will do well in the ten-nation tournament.
“You’d have to stick with Mitchell Starc,” Lee told cricket.com.au. “He’s still got that quality. When that pace is up he’s hard to go past.”
Starc was picked the ‘Player of the Tournament’ in the 2015 World Cup for his 22 wickets at 10 runs apiece and reached 100 ODI wickets in just 52 matches, becoming the fastest pace bowler to reach the milestone.
He claimed 2-34 from 8.2 overs in Australia’s unofficial World Cup warm-up win against the West Indies on Wednesday and has been working on regaining and maintaining that deadly swing he has used to great effect.
Heaping praise on Cummins, Lee said, “Pat Cummins: pace, accuracy, variations. He can do it all.”
In six matches this year, Cummins has taken 17 wickets at just 14.29 while striking every 19.5 balls.
