Aakash Chopra hailed Jasprit Bumrah as “national asset” after Cape Town Test win.
Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator, Aakash Chopra, hailed Team India's historic seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second and final Test at Cape Town on Thursday, January 4.
Chopra highlighted that the Indian cricket team doesn't complain about tough conditions but rather thrives in such challenging situations, bringing out the best in the team.
Notably, after a disappointing loss by an innings and 32 runs in the Centurion Test against South Africa, Team India made a strong comeback in the second Test in Cape Town. The tourists defeated the Proteas by seven wickets in two days to level the two-match Test series 1-1.
In the first Test at SuperSport Park, the Indian team struggled against challenging seaming and swinging conditions against South Africa. However, at Newlands, India excelled on a challenging pitch with uneven bounce, leading them to finish the match in just 642 balls (107 overs).
Aakash Chopra said on JioCinema: “When a Test match lasts one-and-a-half days, there are some fallouts. There has been some talk surrounding the pitch. Some questions have been asked. India has never complained about the quality of the pitches on offer. Last time, the Wanderers' pitch was really bad. Honestly, some player could have got hurt on it.”
He continued, “This pitch at Cape Town, too, was bad. India still focused on the game and didn’t complain. I remember that pitch at Perth (Australia) too. And it was really bad. You can’t justify a pitch where a ball takes off from a good length and goes past the keeper’s head.
Even there, India didn’t say anything. They just competed and showed fighting spirit. In fact, when the pitch is bad, it somehow brings the best out of the Indian team. I feel neither pitches like these nor the dust bowls in India are good for the game. It’s just not right for a game of cricket.”
Meanwhile, Chopra hailed Jasprit Bumrah as a “national asset” after he won the Player of the Series award for taking 12 wickets in the Test series. He shared the award with Deal Elgar.
Explaining why Bumrah is so lethal, the commentator said: “There are multiple reasons why Bumrah bowls so well. The first one is his unique action. He does not have a slingy action like Lasith Malinga. He does not have an action like Paul Adams’ frog-in-the-blender. Unlike Sohail Tanveer, he does not bowl on the wrong foot. So, what’s different?”
He signed off by saying, “There’s a point in his action when both his hands are in front of his chest. A batsman’s mind is generally not trained for an action like this. They are accustomed to facing bowlers whose hands move like a wheel: when one hand is coming up, the other is going down. That’s something batsmen find difficult to deal with as they must make decisions within a fraction of a second.”
(With Firstcricket Inputs/Jio Cinema Inputs)