Bumrah is just different gravy, isn’t he? In white-ball cricket, he is a class apart: Andy Flower Premium
The Hindu
Andy Flower's cricket career, coaching success, and insights on top players and coaches in an exclusive interview.
In the Nagpur Test of 2000, Zimbabwe followed on despite making 382 in the first innings. Andy Flower made 232 not out in the second innings, despite India trying out 10 bowlers, and the match was drawn. That remains the highest score by a wicketkeeper in Test cricket, in which he averaged 51.54. He led Zimbabwe to its first ever Test victory, against Pakistan in 1995. As a coach, he guided England to the T20 World Cup triumph in 2010 and to the No. 1 ranking in Tests a year later. He also helped England score a Test series win in India in 2012; no visiting team has done it since. He remains much in demand as a coach in franchise cricket. Excerpts from an exclusive interview Flower gave The Hindu over the phone from Harare:
Ahead of the T20 World Cup final recently, you had predicted India would edge South Africa.
I thought the big difference would be Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav. Bumrah was outstanding again. He is just different gravy, isn’t he? In white-ball cricket, he is a class apart.
Michael Vaughan has said that Bumrah is the best seamer ever in white-ball cricket, putting him ahead of even Wasim Akram, someone you have faced quite a lot when you played for Zimbabwe.
I think it is a slightly unfair comparison because Wasim didn’t play T20 cricket. He was brilliant at what he did in red-ball and 50-over cricket. He was absolutely sensational.
He certainly was at the 1992 World Cup, in which you made your international debut.
Yeah, he was incredible at that World Cup. If he had played T20 cricket, he would have grown his skills even further and added greater variety. Even with the skills he had at that time, he would have been one of the outstanding fast bowlers in world cricket right now.