Former South African pacer Vernon Philander is in awe of Indian fast bowlers’ rise in recent years. While India have been a dominant force at home, relying on their spinners to win Test matches, they have also become fierce competitors abroad due to their pace department. Philander lauded Virat Kohli for the rise of the Indian pace attack and also hailed Jasprit Bumrah in an interview to news agency PTI.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“Every time India comes here (South Africa), they seem to be performing better than the previous tour. In the subcontinent, Indian spinners have been winning the games but It’s just good to see the Indian team winning in Australia,” said Philander talking to PTI.
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He credited former captain Kohli and opined, “That’s a very positive sign for India to produce those sort of bowlers… It is also on the back of great leadership. Virat Kohli had been a strong leader who was propelling his bowlers to go and learn and get better.”
Under Kohli, India became a lethal force as travellers as well, owing to their pacers such as Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, etc.
Bumrah, the 30-year-old Indian pace spearhead on Wednesday (Feb 8), became the No. 1 bowler in ICC Test rankings after leading India to a series-levelling 106-run win over England in the second Test of the ongoing home series. He also became the first Indian speedster to top the Test bowling charts. In addition, the pacer became the second player after Kohli to reach the summit of the rankings across all formats.
Heaping praise on Bumrah, Philander added, “Bumrah is the (most) complete bowler at the moment. He has got magnificent skills and he has also learnt the trade of holding a line and length and that is the reason behind his success at the Test level. Initially, he wanted to bowl wicket-taking deliveries all the time and leaked runs but now he has learnt consistency.”
Bumrah-starrer India is now gearing up for the third Test versus England, which starts on Feb 15 in Rajkot with the series levelled at 1-1.
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