Zaheer Khan believes Jasprit Bumrah needs to be “extra aggressive”

Former Indian speedster Zaheer Khan believes Jasprit Bumrah, the key pacer of current Indian set up, who went wicketless in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, needs to be “extra aggressive” on his part to take wickets as batsmen have now adopted his defensive approach against them.

“When you build a reputation like how Jasprit Bumrah has built now over the years, you will have to fight this,” Zaheer Khan said to Cricbuzz.

“Bumrah is in a phase where teams are saying ‘even if we get thirty-five runs we are happy with that as long as we are not giving him wickets because then we can attack the other bowlers’.”

Jasprit Bumrah was out of the squad for a few months after getting injured. However, he has returned to the squad but was far from his best form in the three games against the Black Caps in the recently concluded series. He failed to leave his mark against the Kiwis and returned wicketless while conceding a total of 167 runs in the 30 overs he bowled. In the ICC rankings, he has been replaced by New Zealand’s speedster Trent Boult at the number one spot after the recently concluded series.

“That is something which Bumrah will have to understand that he has to be extra aggressive in terms of looking to get those wickets because he knows the batsmen are going to be defensive. So, he has to find that way of going for wickets rather than hoping that the batsmen will make a mistake because batsmen are taking a very conservative approach and making sure that his wicket-taking column is not getting filled,” said the former pacer.

“It’s a good sign that other batsmen are giving him that respect so it’s Bumrah’s call to now basically make them play. He has to make the play now rather than batsman playing him out,” Zaheer Khan further added.

Jasprit Bumrah will now look to be back to his best form in the two-Test series against the New Zealand team which is all set to begin from February 21 in Wellington.