Team India skipper Virat Kohli lauded fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, hailing him as “the most complete bowler in world cricket.”
The paceman took 13 wickets in two Tests at an average of 9.23, including a fifer, a six-wicket haul, and a sensational hat-trick.
“There is not much you can say about Jasprit, the way he has been bowling,” Kohli said in the press conference after India completed a 2-0 whitewash over the West Indies. “All we can say is we are really lucky to have him in our team.”
“Very rarely do you find a pack of bowlers who are hunting together. And bowling for each other, bowling in partnerships. If you see today, he had a bit of a niggle, but he came in and just bowled three overs in a spot, did the job for the team when he was in pain as well.”
Watching Bumrah from the slips, Kohli said he pitied the batsmen facing the former’s lethal deliveries.
“It’s not all about going for wickets all the time, it’s about bowling in partnerships, but when he gets some kind of momentum, you can see what he can do in five-six overs with the new ball which we saw in the first innings [when he took the hat-trick]. I haven’t seen many more lethal spells than that in the last couple of Tests, than those two spells by Bumrah, and as a batsman you feel, standing in slips, you can feel for the batsmen who are playing him, you know.”
“He confuses you with angles, with swing, he’ll set up for the outswinger, then bowl the inswinger, and it’s coming at pace, and then he can hit you with bouncers as well. So I think he is the most complete bowler in world cricket right now,” he added.
Kohli was all praise for the youngster’s mindset, and his hunger to be the best bowler in the world.
“It’s the mindset, when you put your mind to a certain thing, you strive towards it. He definitely wants to be the best bowler in the world, there is no question about it. He has moulded his life like that, he has moulded his discipline, his work ethic, the way he trains, the way he takes care of his diet, the way he bowls as much as he has to.”
“He has absolute control of what he is doing. So when he steps out on the field, he knows how much he can contribute for the team. It is really pleasing to see a guy who was tagged as a T20 specialist, he came in and took over the one-day scene, and now he is taking over Test cricket. He is proving people wrong that there is a set template for every format. If you have belief, you can play every format. I totally vouch for that as well. He definitely has the mindset to succeed in all three formats and wants to be the best in the world,” the Indian captain stated.
The 25-year-old, despite playing only 12 Tests, already has 62 wickets at 19.24 to his name. Earlier, former India captain Sourav Ganguly described Jasprit Bumrah as an X-Factor for Indian cricket and felt that he would play a significant role in the 2020 T20 World Cup.
