‘Siraj nowhere near him’ - Former pace bowling legend draws comparison between Indian pacers

Amidst the news of Mohammed Shami’s comeback to Team India in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024, former pace bowling legend Andy Roberts has come up with all praises for the star India speedster. Notably, Roberts was one of the four great pacers, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, and Colin Croft who were known to be the nightmares of the batters in the 1970s and 80s.

Roberts also spoke about one of the great pacers of the current generation, Jasprit Bumrah. He felt that Bumrah might be one of the leading wicket-takers for India but Shami is someone who can bring a lot to the table while delivering his best for the team.

“Shami has been India’s best bowler for a while. He may not get the amount of wickets Jasprit Bumrah gets, but he’s the full package and is more consistent than the rest. Shami swings the ball, Shami seams the ball and Shami’s control is as good as Bumrah’s,” said Roberts to Mid-day.

'Mohammed Siraj is nowhere near Shami'

Furthermore, Roberts also opined about Mohammed Siraj and named him as ‘India’s second-best seamer’ after Bumrah but the former West Indies legend went quite ‘hard and fast’ while comparing him with Shami. “Mohammed Siraj, India's second-best seamer after Bumrah in Australia, is nowhere near Shami's class. Shami should play. Mohammed Siraj is nowhere near Shami,” Roberts added.

Speaking of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024 between India and Australia, the visitors are currently on the backfoot after a massive 10-wicket defeat against the hosts in the Adelaide Test. Earlier, India under the captaincy of stand-in skipper, Jasprit Bumrah won the first Test by a comprehensive margin of 295 runs.

Coming back to Shami, he has recently made a comeback to competitive cricket for his state team Bengal in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024. Besides that, he also played a decisive role for his side, both with the bat and the ball in a game of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024.