New Delhi: Delhi’s bowling coach Rajkumar Sharma on Sunday said that India pacer Jasprit Bumrah is ‘world’s best fast bowler’ after he scalped his maiden Test hat-trick against West Indies.
“The way Bumrah is bowling, according to me he is the world’s best fast bowler. His pace and swing are exceptional. The way he has grown from T20I bowler to ODIs and now to Test, he is a great find for India and will serve India for long,” Sharma told ANI.
Bumrah became the third Indian to achieve the feat in the longest format of the game. Previously Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan had taken hat-tricks in Test matches for India.
Harbhajan had achieved the feat against Australia in 2001 whereas Pathan had taken a hat-trick against Pakistan in 2006.
Bumrah dismissed Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks and Roston Chase in successive balls in the 9th over of the Windies innings.
Bravo was sent back to the pavilion as Bumrah had him caught at the second slip. Brooks and Chase were caught plum in front and both were adjudged leg-before wicket.
Chase was originally given not-out but Kohli had opted for a review and the ball tracker showed that the ball was clearly hitting the stumps. At the end of play on day two, Bumrah returned with the figure of 6-16 in his 9.1 overs.
“Bumrah is a hard-working bowler and he is intelligent enough and knows where to pitch the ball. He knows his strength well. He was able to bowl inswing but now he has developed outswing as well,” Sharma said.
The 26-year-old is world-number one bowler in the ICC Test rankings and is widely known for his fast pace and toe-breaking yorkers.
He was picked in the Indian team after his promising performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL), from there the bowler have not looked back and continued showcasing match-winning performances.
In the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, Bumrah was the highest wicket-taker for India as he bagged 18 wickets in nine matches. In the last Test match, he scalped six wickets.
“Apart from Dale Steyn, I have not seen any bowler delivering outswing at this pace in the last 10 years. He is eager to learn and that is why he is world number one bowler,” Sharma said.
“India is fortunate and lucky enough as they have four-five fast bowlers who can bowl at 140 kmph and above. I would like to give credit to the team’s bowling coach,” he added.