MUMBAI: West Indian batting great Brian Lara on Thursday praised the current Indian pace attack, which reminded him of the deadly West Indian attacks of yore.
The Indian pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, in 2018, picked the record 142 wickets among them in Test matches.
Asked what makes Indian team special, Lara said: “”It’s the Indian pace attack. Unbelievable. I saw them in the West Indies. When you look at the quality — (Jasprit) Bumrah, (Mohammed) Shami, (Umesh) Yadav — all these guys, and the guys on the sidelines, like Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) are unbelievable.”
“It reminds me a little bit of the (pace bowling) strength that the West Indies had in the 80s and 90s. The reserve strength is very important in assessing a team’s ability. It means that your attack has quality,” Lara added.
Lara, who had scored 11,953 Test runs, was speaking after the launch of ‘Road Safety World Series’, in which he will be a part and lead the West Indian legend team.
Lara was lavish in his praise for Virat Kohli, whom he termed the ‘Ultimate Captain’.
“He’s (Kohli) the ultimate captain. In terms of his performances, he leads by example. And I mean that in all facets of the game, and off the field too. He is came off very well in the background of MS Dhoni, who laid the foundation, and did things in a different way.
“So, I think Indian cricket, as we all know, is headed in the right direction. It’s influenced by some of the best people, and is reaping the benefits of it,” Lara told reporters here. (AGENCIES)