New Delhi: Hypothetical as it may sound, picture this. The current number one ODI bowler in the world Jasprit Bumrah marking his run-up as the legendary Brian Charles Lara takes guard. Having seen the former West Indies skipper bat over the years against the likes of Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath and Wasim Akram among others, one would expect a high-voltage clash on the pitch as Lara was always known to take the attack to the opposition bowlers, be it pace or spin. But the maestro reveals otherwise.
Speaking to IANS, one of the absolute legends of the game says that for Bumrah, he would not opt for the counter-attacking game. Rather, he would try and unsettle the pacer by continuously rotating the strike. Lara believes that not giving the India pacer the opportunity to settle down in line and length can be the 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.”
“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.”
“I don’t believe counter attacking against such a good bowler is a great idea. He might have a one-off bad day and then batsmen can capitalise but generally he has had very good days. I think I would look to pay that respect,” he explained.
From one class act to another, while Lara has played against Sachin Tendulkar, he has watched current heartthrob Virat Kohli rip apart opposition attacks over the last couple of years and for the West Indian, Kohli is not human.
Calling it as he sees it, Lara believes that the India captain has changed the way the game is perceived not just by current players, but also by youngsters who want to go ahead and play for their countries in the future. (IANS)
