Jasprit Bumrah ‘is a complete bowler’ – Shane Bond
Shane Bond has lavished praise on India’s gun bowler in the short formats, Jasprit Bumrah, calling him the best limited-overs bowler on the planet.
Bond is currently in India as assistant coach to defending Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians, who retained Bumrah, the No.1 bowler in the MRF Tyres ICC Men's ODI Player Rankings, ahead of the IPL 2018 auction, and the former New Zealand paceman has seen enough of the 24-year-old to be convinced that Mumbai have a trump card in their ranks.
“Jasprit is the No.1 bowler in the short form of the game,” gushed Bond ahead of the tournament opener against Chennai Super Kings. “If you talk to anybody in world cricket about the short form game, they will talk about this bloke at the top of the tree.
“Every team is looking for someone who can do a job at the end of the innings in particular, and there is no better bowler than Jasprit.”
Bumrah made his international debut in a one-day international against Australia in 2016, and he played his first Twenty20 International against the same opponents three days later. Since then, he has picked up a combined 105 wickets in limited-overs internationals.
Earlier this year, in January, Bumrah made his Test debut and was impressive in picking up 14 wickets in the three-match series in South Africa, which India lost 2-1.
“His start in the Test cricket has been fantastic as well,” noted Bond, New Zealand’s premier pacer in the early 2000s. “Over the period of three years, everyone has seen him develop into a fine all-round bowler across all formats. He has grown up as a person, he is a senior player now. I met him three years ago for the first time. He is still the same – humble and wants to work hard.
“I think he is a complete bowler. The first thing you talk about him is his yorker. He has also got a good bouncer, moves the ball both ways and hits the wicket hard. He has got a very good slower ball and a very good read on the game. The more he plays at the international level, he is going to get better and better and is a big asset to Indian cricket.”