England batsman Jonny Bairstow heaped praise on Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the Lord’s Test. Bairstow says the India pacer possesses ‘amazing skills’ for all three formats.
The opening Test ended in a draw after rain washed out the final day, but Jasprit Bumrah roared back in form with a nine-wicket haul. Bumrah remained wicket-less in the World Test championship final against New Zealand which India lost, but made a strong comeback in the first Test.
“Well, I can’t tell you all the discussions (about Bumrah), look we know that Bumrah has got amazing skills, doesn’t he?” Bairstow said in a con-call arranged by broadcaster Sony ahead of the second Test.
“With his action, he (Bumrah) varies on the crease as to where his delivery points are, and we all know as well and he (is) slightly different in his action with his run up and then just his action in general,” said Bairstow.
“Bumrah has only played only 20 (21) Tests, within that is going to be periods of time when there have been six England, judging by the last series as well, so there is going to be times when bowlers adapt and change their skill-sets in some conditions, they will be more suited to other conditions.
“We also got to give him (Bumrah) credit, he is a world class bowler, isn’t it, we have seen that in the IPL, we have seen that in white-ball cricket for India and also in red-ball cricket.”
The 31-year-old wicketkeeper batsman, who has played 75 Tests after making his debut in 2012, maintained that adaptability was the key in Test cricket.
“It is quite an open-ended question. The strengths of the Indian bowling attack, whether or not you play in England, or in India, you look at a different type of ball.
“When playing in India compared to England, you have different types of pitches, that we saw in Ahmedabad and Chennai, for instance, so they are naturally different and need different skill-sets.
“So, look adaptability is the key when it comes to test cricket in general in conditions and being adaptable is more important.”
