Waqar Younis feels Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma have made India Test powerhouse

Pakistan cricket team's former captain and current coach, Waqar Younis has praised the Indian trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma for making India a Test powerhouse through their consistent performances. Speaking to YouTube channel Cricket Baaz, Younis also backed his theory of experimentation in Pakistan's T20I and ODI squads to find the right balance.

Younis also praised the Indian fast-bowling department for maintaining their high speeds for long durations in the matches and are reaping the rewards of the hard work put in by the same crop of bowlers.

“If you see India has really worked hard in this area and they are now producing bowlers regularly who bowl in the 140 plus range,”

He was particularly impressed by the likes of Bumrah, Shami and the experienced Sharma and credited India's Test success to their consistency with the ball in different and testing conditions.

“In the past it was not like this. But things have changed. (Jasprit) Bumrah, (Mohammed) Shami, Ishant (Sharma) they have taken India to the top. That is why India is doing so well in Test and other formats now.”

Jasprit Bumrah

He also defended his under-the-pump coaching style of continuous chopping and changing in Pakistan's ODI and T20I squads. According to him, giving the in-form bowlers a look-in only helped in increasing their confidence. He even stated that good domestic performances by bowlers like Muhammad Abbas and Imran Khan were duly noted throughout the campaign.

“My policy is to keep on giving chances and experimenting in ODIs and T20 cricket. Give those bowlers a chance who are in form at a time. It is not that I ignore those who have performed consistently well in domestic cricket. Muhammad Abbas, Imran Khan are examples.”

He, however, defended the bowlers by pointing out the difficult challenges of the evolved game they had to go through which had put them in a defensive mindset rather than an attacking one, unlike previous years.

“Nowadays cricket is different and as a result I feel pace bowlers are more defensive minded now to counter the changed rules, broader bats and easy pitches. In my days we always believed that aggression and attack was a must for fast bowlers and we got success.”