England vs India: ‘I still will not have Jasprit Bumrah as my opening bowler’ – Michael Holding

West Indies cricket legend Michael Holding who faced a lot of flak for the criticism of Indian players Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, reinstated his comments that he will not have Bumrah as his opening bowler.

The former express bowler had earlier questioned Pandya’s ability as an all-rounder and had gone on to say that Bumrah was “not a new ball bowler” after India had been humbled at Lord’s going 0-2 down in the five-match series. Bumrah had not played a single one of them owing to his thumb injury, while Pandya had been a disappointment.

But both the came to the fore in the very net next match at Trent Bridge. Pandya continuing his run in the team despite the mediocre series burst open the England batting line-up with a maiden five-wicket haul in the opening innings and also scored run-a-ball half-century in the second essay. While Bumrah returning from the injury, led India to a win with his second 5-fer in four Test matches. Incidentally, all five of wickets in that innings came from the new ball. India eventually won the match by a massive 203 runs.

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Their performance led to a huge uproar on social media, with many attacking Holding for his comments. But the great man himself reiterated his earlier words.

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

“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,” he added.

He also disagreed that Bumrah has the ability to move the ball away from the right-hander and instead complemented his pace.

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“What you have to remember is that in England, with so much assistance from both pitch and atmosphere for the quick bowlers, Bumrah will get the odd ball to straighten on the right-handers’ off-stump, although his action doesn’t enhance his ability to do so. The same delivery in South Africa, Australia, etc. would not straighten as it can tend to do in England. He has pace, though, which is a welcome asset that cannot be bought,” said the 64-year-old nicknamed “Whispering Death” because of his quiet approach to the bowling crease.

Holding also cleared the air about his Hardik Pandya, where he was alleged to have said that the 24-year-old could never become Kapil Dev.

“Please go back and listen to or read what I have said about Pandya,” said the legendary cricketer. “I was more critical of the people who were telling me he is the next Kapil Dev, not of Pandya himself. I have gone on to say that he is not the man to fill that sort of role as yet, batting at No. 6 and bowling. What I am glad also to see is that I read somewhere that he had said he doesn’t want to be known as the new Kapil Dev; he is Hardik Pandya, which is the right attitude.”