Brian Lara reveals the tactics to handle bowling sensation Jasprit Bumrah

In his times, he was a batsman that not many bowlers felt comfortable to bowl at. Brian Charles Lara had played fast bowlers and spinners with the same ease and according to some, he was ahead of even the great Sachin Tendulkar, his contemporary. However, while that remains a debatable issue, the former Caribbean player continues to dominate memories of several fans of the game who also speculate how he would have played some of the bowling greats of this era.

One of the bowling greats of these times is Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who many are seeing as one who could set the World Cup ablaze. Had Lara faced the man today, how the hypothetical situation would have turned out? According to the 50-year-old Trinidadian, he would not have counter-attacked Bumrah but unsettle him by milking him around in frequent intervals. According to the West Indian great, not giving Bumrah any opportunity to settle down with line and length would be key to succeed against him.

“First of all, if I was facing him, I would look to get off the strike (laughs). He is very good and someone who has an awkward action. Batsman have to keep their eyes on him and I would maybe try to apply pressure on him by rotating the strike. In ODI cricket, you have the option of picking up a lot more singles than in T20s.

In the past, you have seen that when batsmen looked to go after guys like Muttiah Muralitharan or Sunil Narine, it is very difficult and Bumrah has that sort of an effect. I would encourage batsmen to try to get six singles from his over. He is one of India’s best bowlers and then maybe you can look at other areas to get runs from,” India.com cited reports quoting Lara as saying.

The former cricketer, who owns the record of the highest individual score in Test cricket (400 not out), said he doesn’t believe in attacking a good bowler and rather give him respect.

Lara calls Kohli a ‘machine’

Speaking about India captain Virat Kohli, Lara called him a “machine” who has brought a different cricketer to the table than what the cricket world was accustomed to see in the 1980s and 1990s. He though refused to compare Kohli with Tendulkar but conceded that the former is a “special talent” who sets a tremendous example for the young as well as upcoming cricketers.

[interaction id=”5ce27636848e7414887089f1″]