Former Windies pacer draws comparison between Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami

Former West Indies cricketer and Television commentator Ian Bishop (Photo by Bob Thomas/Getty Images)

In the 62nd game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up the second fifer of his IPL career against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium. However, his excellent bowling display effort went in vain as GT bagged the match comfortably by a 34-run margin.

Riding on Shubman Gill’s maiden IPL ton and Mohammed Shami’s four-wicket haul, Gujarat hammered the visitors at the iconic stadium. After Gill’s heroics with the bat, Shami spearheaded GT’s bowling unit from the front and wreaked havoc on SRH’s batters with his spunky attitude.

Picking up the scalps of Anmolpreet Singh, Aiden Markram, and Rahul Tripathi in the powerplay overs, the veteran shattered the confidence of Sunrisers.

Impressed with Shami’s disciplined bowling in the game, former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop drew a comparison between Bhuvenshwar’s spell with that of Mohammed Shami’s. Analysing the spells of both India stalwarts, the former West Indies legend said Shami’s wickets made a huge impact in the game while Bhuvneshwar’s wickets came towards the end of GT’s batting innings.

“He’s got 15 powerplay wickets. It tells you the value of wickets up front versus wickets at the back end,” said Bishop on ESPNcricinfo. “And you look at Bhuvi (Bhuvaneshwar Kumar), and no fault of Bhuvi’s, Bhuvi was excellent with 4 wickets in the back end, but Shami bowls a test length, a test line and length, very well, which is what (Mohammed) Siraj, when he’s been at his best this season has been able to bowl.”

While talking about the performances of both bowlers, Bishop also praised Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Mohammed Siraj, who is looking in great touch in this IPL edition so far. 

“Tight on the off-stump and a little bit of that away movement from that brilliant seam position and at a good pace. It seems to hustle off the wicket more than a lot of guys. So great credit, he broke the back of that run chase up front and he’s just an outstanding bowler, particularly in the last three, four seasons,” said Bishop.