Legendary former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd said India’s pace attack is at its best ever, singling out Jasprit Bumrah as the reason for India to be at the top in international cricket. Lloyd said Bumrah is a thinking player, and said this is the best Indian team ever.
“India have a better crop of fast bowlers than they had earlier and that’s because of the MRF Centre in Chennai. They have developed the culture of bringing in fast bowlers there and it’s been a success. Indian cricketers are much fitter now than they were before. It shows in their movements on the field,” Lloyd told Telegraph.
“He’s (Bumrah) thinking all the time and can surprise you any time. He can bowl the vicious bouncer, he can get the ball to swing around, he bowls the slower ones. That is why India are where they are at the moment. He can provide breakthroughs at a time when the side is struggling,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd sadi India captain Virat Kohli was a tremendous cricketer.
“He’s a tremendous cricketer. I forgot to mention people like Kane Williamson. I admire him quite a lot. There’s also Geoffrey Boycott whom I didn’t mention. You’d pay money to go and watch them.
“Don’t forget people like Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman… All tremendous batsmen. For quite a number of years, Rahul Dravid was your best batsman. I am now admiring young Rishabh Pant.”
The former left handed batsman said this is the best Indian team ever.
“They are a much better side because they have variety, the players are fitter and more professional… Yeah I would think so… Don’t forget they came from behind most times in Australia and that was excellent. Judging by their performances from that series you can say that this is the best Indian team ever.”
When asked if the 1983 World Cup final loss to India hurts, Lloyd said:
“No, not at all. I thought we gave India a chance to show that they can do well in one-day cricket and look how it has come through. We were disappointed but we won two World Cups and played in three consecutive finals. It matters who plays better on the day and that was it.”
