"You won't get a better bowler than him in the entire world" - Irfan Pathan lauds Jasprit Bumrah's spell in IND vs AFG World Cup 2023 clash

Irfan Pathan has lauded Jasprit Bumrah's spell in India's World Cup 2023 clash against Afghanistan and opined that he is the best bowler in world cricket.

Bumrah scalped four wickets while conceding just 39 runs in his 10-over spell as the Men in Blue restricted Afghanistan to 272/8 on a featherbed in Delhi on Wednesday, October 11. Rohit Sharma and Co. then chased down the below-par target with eight wickets and 15 overs to spare to climb to second spot in the points table.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan was asked for his thoughts on Jasprit Bumrah's spell, to which he responded:

"You won't get a better bowler than him in the entire world. If you focus on his action, you will come to know how he uses his variations. He first sets up the batters with inswing, creates a cluster, and then bowls outswing without any change in action and deceives the batters."

The former Indian all-rounder pointed out that the unconventional pacer has all the weapons in his arsenal and explained:

"A bowler who bowls at 140 kph, inswing and outswing at one spot, bouncers, slower ones, yorkers, you won't get anywhere. The angle from which he bowls, his pitch map will be outside the off stump. The ball will come in from there and can go away as well."

Pathan added that it's virtually impossible for the batters to pick Bumrah's deceptions because of the pace at which he bowls. He elaborated:

"If you focus on his wrists and seam position, the seam position is towards fine leg when he bowls inswing and towards slip when he bowls outswing. There is no change in action, just the wrist's control and balance. This is praiseworthy bowling and it is impossible for the batter to pick it at a speed of 140 kph."

Bumrah first broke Afghanistan's opening partnership by getting rid of Ibrahim Zadran with the new ball. He later dismissed Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan with the old ball to stop Hashmatullah Shahidi's side from posting a 300+ total.

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"Some bowlers give you wickets with the new ball but he is equally effective with the old ball" - Piyush Chawla on Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah is known for his lethal yorkers and slower ones at the death. [P/C: AP]

Piyush Chawla was particularly appreciative of Jasprit Bumrah's death bowling. He stated:

"Some bowlers give you wickets with the new ball but he is equally effective with the old ball. If you talk about the economy in the last 10 years, he is in the top four in the world. You come to know from that what a crucial role he plays for the team and when you don't give runs in the end overs, you get wickets because of that."

The leg-spinner pointed out that while the general talk is about the Indian batting revolving around Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the bowling revolves around Kuldeep Yadav and Bumrah.