Complete bowler Bumrah will be best pacer of T20 World Cup, says Vernon Philander

His ability to hold a line, bowl wicket-taking deliveries without leaking runs along with those lethal yorkers make Jasprit Bumrah the most complete bowler in international cricket, says former South African seamer Vernon Philander, who foresees the Indian outperforming all his contemporaries in this year’s T20 World Cup.

Bumrah on Wednesday became the first Indian pacer to be crowned No. 1 in ICC
Test rankings. This was after his magical performance in the second Test against England that yielded nine wickets on a sporting track at Visakhapatnam.

Philander, who has played 64 Tests for South Africa with 225 wickets against his name, said Bumrah doesn’t seem to have any chinks in his armour.

“Bumrah is the (most) complete bowler at the moment. He has got magnificent skills and he has also learnt the trade of holding a line and length and that is the reason behind his success at the Test level,” Philander said on the sidelines of the SA T20 Tournament here.

“Initially, he wanted to bowl wicket-taking deliveries all the time and leaked runs, but now he has learnt consistency,” he pointed out.

The upcoming T20 World Cup will be held in June across the West Indies and the USA and inaugural champions India would be among the title favourites.

Philander said the team will rely heavily on Bumrah as he has become the sort of bowler who can never be written off in the shortest format.