Jasprit Bumrah’s variety in bowling is one of a kind, hails Karsan Ghavri

In the late 70s, when India were yet to produce a genuine line of fast bowlers, left-arm pacer Karsan Ghavri, who shared the new ball with Kapil Dev, was but one among the very few. The former India cricketer has now hailed Jasprit Bumrah, who made his international debut four years ago, for rising up the ranks fairly quickly despite having an unconventional action like that of Lasith Malinga.

Since making his Test debut in January 2018, the Polly Umrigar Awardee has played 14 Tests and already bagged 68 wickets, at an average of 20.33, including the 21 wickets scalped during the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar trophy. Ghavri, who had spotted a young Bumrah years ago, admitted that the 26-year-old's variations are one of a kind.

“In the beginning, when he started playing Ranji Trophy for Gujarat. No one thought he would scale the peak he has because he had this unconventional action like Malinga. He’s an extremely different bowler; he is no Dennis Lille or a Michael Holding. He’s worked extremely hard to reach where he has because with that sort of action, for Bumrah to maintain the kind of accuracy he has, is commendable. I never thought a fast bowler could have the kind of variety Bumrah has,” Ghavri told Hindustan Times.

“Initially, people thought he could only bowl inswingers, but today he can make the ball go away. Besides, he can bowl the best yorkers. He executes it nine out of ten times, which is something I thought I’d never see from an Indian bowler. He’s got a threatening bouncer and at the same time, an excellent slower bouncer. He’s the perfect all-round fast-bowling package.”

Further on, Ghavri expressed how much he is impressed by the standards of the Indian fast bowlers these days. The pace attack comprising Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah is considered the best in the world by many, and Ghavri has hailed it "extraordinary."

“India has the best fast bowling attack in the world, which is extraordinary. Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar... you cannot go wrong with these guys. They’ve been performing extremely well. To win a Test match, you need to take 20 wickets and due to these bowlers, India have been able to do so regularly and effectively,” he added.