Michael Holding stands firm on his take on Jasprit Bumrah irrespective of Twitter trolls

For Michael Holding, expressing opinions over India’s game in the ongoing Test series against England has earned more brickbats than bouquets. The former West Indies fast bowler received an indirect response from all-rounder Hardik Pandya after the latter came up with a decisive performance in Trent Bridge Test. Now, he has also been trolled for passing a strong verdict on Jasprit Bumrah.

Twitter was abuzz with bashing of the Jamaican after he said that Bumrah is not a new ball bowler and he would not have picked him for the series against England. The 24-year-old made an impressive return to the Test side at Trent Bridge and made an impact by taking five wickets in the second innings to see England suffering a crashing defeat by 203 runs.

Bumrah’s fifer came as the opening bowler after Pandya took a five-wicket haul in the first innings and that saw the Twitterati hitting back at Holding even forcefully. The 64-year-old former bowler, who was called as ‘The Whispering Death’ in his playing days, however, did not retreat from his position. He stood his ground over his verdict on Bumrah.

‘I won’t have Bumrah as opening bowler still’

In a chat with Times of India, Holding said, “I would still not have him (Bumrah) as my opening bowler. Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami do a bit more with the brand new ball and they will remain my opening bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence.”

The former paceman, however, is not of the opinion that Bumrah has a lesser quality. “What I have seen is he can get the ball to straighten from wide of the crease and is more effective with the slightly older ball,” the former cricketer went on to add.

India will play the fourth Test against England at The Rose Bowl in Southampton starting from 30th of August.

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