Bumrah’s adaptability to all formats is just crazy, says South Africa great Allan Donald

Paarl: Former South Africa cricketer Allan Donald lavished praise on Jasprit Bumrah, saying the 28-year-old Indian pacer has sublime skills in all formats of the game. Donald added that Bumrah’s adaptability to all formats is “just crazy and everyone talks about him”.

“Two blokes who I would keep at the top across all formats are (Kagiso) Rabada and Bumrah. But the one who would stand out in terms of all formats is Bumrah. His adaptability to all formats is just crazy and everyone talks about him. He has sublime skills in all formats of the game,” Donald quoted as saying by Telegraph.

“I was watching him bowl the other day. Especially how he delivers the ball after a stuttering run-up and releases the ball is simply crazy. He has got a magnificent wrist turn-over that no one else has presently in the game. It just can’t go wrong for him,” he said.

Donald who was known as the ‘White Lightening’ said the India pacer is a must pick in his XI in all three formats.

“His ability to bowl yorkers any time in all formats also stands out. He also knows when to bowl that yorker in Test cricket. He’s an absolute gun for me in all formats. I don’t think I’ve seen such steel in a young fast bowler. When he first came on to the scene, I thought, ‘Wow! This guy has got real pace’. And now, he’s one guy whom I would always have in my team across formats,” Donald said.

Donald said that Bumrah and other Indian bowlers became “a little impatient” at certain phases of the second and final Tests, both matches that India lost to concede the series in spite of winning the opener.

“There were times when India’s bowlers deviated from their normal plans. By normal plans, I mean bowling the fourth-stump line in order to find the ‘keeper’s gloves. At times, they became a bit more frustrated and bowled on both sides of the wicket (in Johannesburg and Cape Town),” he pointed out. – IANS