Jasprit Bumrah earns praise from former WI speedster Fidel Edwards for his ‘special craft’

NEW DELHI: Former West Indies speedster Fidel Edwards showered praise on India’s pace spearhead, Jasprit Bumrah, and hailed his “craft”, which he says is something “special” to watch.

Bumrah, with an action of his own, has set the international circuit on fire. He takes a couple of steps to get into motion, then shifts through gears to charge up, extends his arm to get the angle and uses his wrist to execute a wide array of unpredictable variations.

Edwards, who was blessed with one of the most thrilling fast-bowling actions in the world of cricket, sees Bumrah as the “best” speedster in the world, who creates something “special” with his craft.

“If you watch Jasprit Bumrah, he is one of the best; he is probably the best fast bowler. His craft is something special to watch,” Edwards said.

Bumrah, who willingly makes batters tilt at windmills, inspired the Public TV EnglishIndian team to a famous T20 World Cup title win in Barbados last year. He waged a lone war for India during the five gruelling Tests in Australia and shattered numerous records on his way to redefine the art of fast bowling.

As of now, Bumrah has been nursing a lower back injury, which ruled him out of India’s famous run to Champions Trophy victory on Sunday.

The 31-year-old, branded as a “national treasure” by stalwart Virat Kohli, has a staggering 443 scalps in 204 matches, a stunning average of 20.46, and a sublime strike rate of 33.22.

Edwards has been reliving his past days in the ongoing International Masters League (IML) 2025, which is being held in India. He is representing the West Indies Masters, who have qualified for the semi-finals with a stellar victory over the South Africa Masters and kept its hopes alive for final, which will be held on March 16.

He shared his experience of reuniting with his compatriots and reliving the past battles, saying, “It has been a great experience. Sachin (Tendulkar), (Jacques) Kallis and all these guys are legends to me. The standard of the tournament is good. The crowd has been fantastic so far.” (ANI)