Zaheer lauds Bumrah effort

New Delhi: Former India pacer Zaheer Khan lavished praise on seamer Jasprit Bumrah for his all-round show in India’s win over England in the Lord’s Test. Zaheer also said that the heated exchange with James Anderson acted as a motivation for Bumrah in the match.

“If by getting angry, he (Bumrah) can carry himself and perform like this, I believe he should at times needle the opposition. See, in the first innings, he had gone wicket-less and being the class bowler that he is, I am sure it must have bothered him,” Zaheer was quoted as saying by a cricket-specific website.

“After that, the whole Anderson episode that unfolded, the bouncers he bowled to him and then while batting, the manner in which the England pacers went after him all those things motivated him, and he channelised that anger in the right way. England must be thinking ‘we should have let Bumrah bowl bouncers’ and not mess with him. The  intensity with which he bowled, was worth praising,” added the former India left-arm pacer.

The Bumrah-Anderson fight in the Lord’s Test happened on day three when India pacers looked to bowl out the England in their first innings. Bumrah bowled a 10-ball over to Anderson, in which he overstepped the line four times. When the players were walking back to the dressing room, everyone witnessed Anderson having a war of words with Bumrah, as the latter kept smiling back.

Zaheer was also all praise at the way Bumrah dismissed Ollie Robinson in England’s second innings. “Bowling a slower ball is challenging, but to bowl it from round the wicket, from that angle to get a batsman out LBW, you need (to) bowl from close to the wicket, which is never easy. Bumrah did a very tough job. The thought process was excellent and Bumrah was fabulous,” Zaheer stated.

Karthik’s choice

Dubai: Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has named India and West Indies as his finalists for the men’s T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman in October and November. He also said that after India, West Indies are his second favourite team for the exciting cricket they play. “I’m not going to go all the way to who is going to win but I’ll tell you this, I’d love to see India versus West Indies final. My second favourite team after India would definitely be West Indies, only for the flair of cricket that they play. As of now both India and the West Indies are the favourites to play the final,” Karthik said.

IANS