Jasprit Bumrah is set to make his Test comeback on the tour of South Africa.
The right-arm quick is all set to return to the five-day format in the upcoming tour of South Africa, where the Indian team is due to play two Tests.
Ahead of the Test series, South African legend AB de Villiers has hailed Bumrah as the leader of India’s pace attack and expects him to trouble the Proteas batters.
Bumrah has enjoyed success in South Africa, picking up 14 and 12 wickets in the last two Test tours. He was instrumental in India’s Johannesburg Test win in 2017-18 and Centurion Test win in 2021-22.
According to De Villiers, Bumrah is the perfect bowler for the South African conditions and backs him to make an impact during the red-ball series.
"Bumrah is definitely the leader of the pack. He's a guy that keeps coming at you. Never stops. He's got all the skills. He kept us very busy in the last series we played in South Africa," De Villiers told India Today.
"He's the perfect bowler for those conditions, angling it into the stumps and then just moving it either way from there. He's a handful, and, he's gonna keep the South African batters busy. The whole of the Indian bowling attack is the biggest threat for South Africa," he added.
Jasprit Bumrah was one of the top performers for India in the recently held ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. He took 20 wickets from 11 matches in the showpiece event at a remarkable average of 18.65.
The two-match Test series between India and South Africa is slated to get underway on December 26 in Centurion. Cape Town is due to host the second Test from January 3.