Michael Holding Clarifies His Comments on Hardik Pandya; Says He would Still ‘NOT’ Opt for Jasprit Bumrah

Michael Holding has been in the news for his negative comments of late. Recently, he was in the eye of the storm ever since he had passed nasty comments on the Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya.  Raising a question on Pandya’s selection he said that Pandya is nowhere close to Kapil Dev. While talking about Bumrah, he said that the pacer is not a new ball bowler. Both, however, got a five-wicket haul at the Nottingham test. The social media users obviously remembered his comments and trolled the West Indian left, right and centre.

Now, while speaking to the Times of India, Holding spoke about his comments on both the Indian players. While speaking about Pandya he said, “ Please go back and listen to or read what I have said about Pandya. I was more critical of the people who were telling me he is the next Kapil Dev, not of Pandya himself. I have gone on to say that he is not the man to fill that sort of role as yet, batting at No. 6 and bowling. What I am glad also to see is that I read somewhere that he had said he doesn't want to be known as the new Kapil Dev; he is Hardik Pandya, which is the right attitude."

He also went on to compare Pandya’s performance in the first two matches with the one at Nottingham. “He (Pandya) only bowled 10 overs in the entire first Test (Edgbaston) and 17 in the entire second Test where the seamers on both teams were making the ball talk and batsmen were struggling. He got no runs in either of the first two Tests as well. He bowled a lot more in the third Test and maybe that is down to the fact that he got a wicket with his first delivery, which then convinced his captain to give him more overs than in the first two Tests,” he explained.

While speaking about Bumrah, Holding said that he would still not opt for Bumrah. “I would still not have him (Bumrah) as my opening bowler. Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami do a bit more with the brand new ball and they will remain my opening bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar's absence," Holding told Times of India."What I have seen is he can get the ball to straighten from wide of the crease and is more effective with the slightly older ball."

According to Holding, Burah failed to hone the skills for delivering an outswinger in South Africa, where he had got a five-wicket haul. "What you have to remember is that in England, with so much assistance from both pitch and atmosphere for the quick bowlers, Bumrah will get the oddball to straighten on the right-handers' off-stump, although his action doesn't enhance his ability to do so. The same delivery in South Africa, Australia, etc would not straighten as it can tend to do in England. He has pace, though, which is a welcome asset that cannot be bought," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 04:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).