Morne Morkel and Irfan Pathan label Jasprit Bumrah as leader of India’s pace attack

India and South Africa are currently playing the second Test of the ongoing series between the two nations. India already won the first Test in Centurion by 113 runs after the Indian bowlers dismissed South Africa for 191 runs in the second innings. Jasprit Bumrah played a crucial role in India’s win, he picked two wickets in the first innings before twisting his ankle and took three more in the second innings.

Bumrah made his Test debut against South Africa during India’s last tour to the Rainbow nation. He picked 14 wickets in three matches at an average of 25.21 which included a five-wicket haul in Johannesburg.

Former India and South Africa cricketers Irfan Pathan and Morne Morkel are really impressed with the way Bumrah has grown as a bowler. Morkel was a part of South Africa’s squad during the last tour in 2018. He added that Bumrah is someone who knows how to create pressure on batters with his natural raw pace.

“I remember the first time we saw him here. He obviously made his debut in South Africa. Just to see him grow in these years and become the leader of the Indian attack is just fantastic,” Morkel said on Star Sports before the start of the second day’s play on Tuesday.

“He’s got natural raw pace. A batter needs a couple of balls to get used to his action. It’s more about the partnerships he forms with other bowlers, he really creates a lot of pressure. Whether Bumrah bowls at a slow pitch or a fast pitch, his pace is always consistent. He angles the ball into the body, making it a batter’s nightmare. No batter wants to face that sort of bowling. He can also straighten it from the off-stump. He’s just a top-quality bowler,” Morkel added.

Jasprit Bumrah is a very aggressive bowler: Irfan Pathan

Irfan was also very impressed with the way Bumrah is using angles to create difficulties for the batters. He also made a point that if Bumrah pitches the ball slightly fuller in South African conditions, he might end up taking more wickets.

“He’s the leader of the attack and a very aggressive bowler. Now that he has started to use the angles, the batters are finding it more difficult. He bowls the inswing, bowls the outswing, bowls yorker in Test cricket regularly. I would like him to bowl slightly fuller on South African conditions,” Irfan said.