India’s fortunes have changed since the advent of Jasprit Bumrah. The right-arm pacer has been instrumental in India’s success in the last 3-4 years where he has become one of the best fast bowlers in limited-overs cricket. He was handed a Test debut in 2018 and since then Bumrah has become the spearhead of the Indian pace attack.
Akhtar cited example of how the two Ws and him used to read the wind speeds during their heydays. “We used to actually (do that), me, Wasim bhai and Waqar bhai, we used to note the wind speed and direction, look the wind is blowing from that corridor, okay I might get reverse from that end,” he said.
“We knew mechanics and aero dynamics of fast bowling, how much swing and at what time of the day. This is my assumption that Bumrah knows these sort of things which I hardly think other fast bowlers know these sort of things.”
For Akhtar, post Mohammed Asif and Muhammed Aamir, Bumrah is the “smartest operator” in terms of intelligence. With his seven-step run-up, Bumrah terrorises the batsman in a matter of five seconds. “In Bumrah’s world, in those five seconds, he only visualises the batsman and thinks about his art of taking wickets,” Akhtar said.
“He is a great character. He will be the most unusual but great fast bowler if fitness permits. If his back remains okay, he will play for a long time.”
