"He takes wickets on those docile pitches, so he’s fantastic" - Dale Steyn hails Jasprit Bumrah's wicket-taking ability across conditions
South Africa legend Dale Steyn hailed Jasprit Bumrah for taking the pitch out of the equation and picking up wickets at will on flat Indian tracks.
A terrific all-conditions bowler, Steyn was himself among the few pacers who found success in India, evidenced by his incredible average of 21.38 in six Tests.
Bumrah has been in sparkling form across formats since his return from injury last year. In the ongoing England Test series, the 30-year-old leads all bowlers with 15 wickets at an average of 10.66 in two games.
Speaking to the media on the eve of the SA20 final, Steyn was impressed by Bumrah's rare ability to bowl wicket-taking yorkers and take wickets on all conditions.
"All round he’s a fantastic bowler. And it’s no surprise with his skiddy kind of action that he’s got that. He takes wickets on those docile pitches, so he’s fantastic. I don’t think there’s any Test bowlers right now who are able to run in and bowl essentially wicket-taking yorkers. To take wickets in Test matches, there are probably a handful of guys who could do that. Trent Boult was one of that, Mitchell Starc maybe. And obviously, Bumrah," said Steyn.
He added:
"I remember saying ages back that a good yorker bowled in India or South Africa or Australia remains a good yorker because you take the surface out of it, doesn’t matter where you bowled it. You take the pitch away and I think that’s one thing that he’s done really well."
After grabbing six wickets in India's defeat in the series opener against England, Bumrah produced a Player of the Match performance in the second Test.
The champion bowler picked up nine wickets, including a six-wicket haul in the first innings to help India level the series. It ascended Bumrah to the top spot in the latest ICC Test bowlers rankings.
"It seems like India don’t really miss him because the step-in bowlers are up to the standard" - Dale Steyn
Dale Steyn further lauded the depth in the Indian pace-bowling ranks to produce impressive performances in Bumrah's absence.
Despite his remarkable numbers, Bumrah has found himself at the wrong end of the stick regarding fitness. However, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami, among others, have taken the mantle to step up and deliver the goods.
"Being an Indian player, there’s going to be a lot of workload. There’s a lot of cricket that India plays, they’re one of the highly-sought after teams in the world. It seems like India don’t really miss him because the step-in bowlers are up to the standard, and it’s a great credit to the Indian cricket," said Steyn.
Steyn highlighted how becoming a good Test bowler will help develop the required skills in T20s.
"I think good Test bowlers make good T20 bowlers. They have good skill in terms of like when to use a change of pace, when to use this slow ball, when to use their bouncer. I’m hoping that a lot of bowlers will get caught on to that and realise that the more red ball cricket that they play, the better shorter format bowlers they will become," concluded Steyn.
During the second England Test, Bumrah became the fastest Indian pacer to reach 150 Test wickets.
He is also one of only two Indian cricketers, with Virat Kohli, to have achieved the No.1 spot in the ICC rankings in all three formats.