Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali lavished praise on Indian bowlers, drawing comparisons to Pakistan’s pace trio of Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, and Waqar Younis. The 53-year-old’s comments followed India’s impressive 280-run victory over Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
India, led by Rohit Sharma, have garnered attention worldwide after this dominating victory which solidified their position in the World Test Champions (WTC) standings. Initially, many speculated about the challenges Bangladesh might pose, following their historic 2-0 Test series win in Pakistan last month. However, the opening Test saw the hosts assert their dominance, with standout performances from Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill.
“The Indian bowling unit is so impactful that they are on level with pacers Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, and Waqar Younis. Right now, Mohammed Shami is not playing,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.
The former Pakistan bowler admitted that India’s bowling unit appeared quite strong against Bangladesh even without veteran Mohammed Shami, who is recovering from ankle surgery. After the series against Bangladesh, India will host New Zealand in a three-match series. They will then travel to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where they will play five series.
Basit Ali believes that adding Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Mayank Yadav could enhance India’s fast bowling attack further when they play in Australia.
“Mayank Yadav’s ball is very dangerous. His bouncer is accurate. I wish to see him play a Test match in Australia,” he added.
With the victory over Bangladesh, India bolstered their top position in the WTC points table, boasting a point percentage of 71.67. India are currently ahead of Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and England, and are on track to secure a spot in the WTC final for the third consecutive time. To earn a spot in the all-important final, the Rohit Sharma-led side still need four more victories in their remaining nine Tests this season.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, which had climbed to fourth place after a historic 2-0 series victory against Pakistan last month, saw their loss drop them to sixth position after their defeat against India. In addition, their points percentage (PCT) also fell from 45.83 to 39.28.
