Former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath has heaped praise on Basil Thampi. The 23-year-old”s ability to bowl yorkers is what has impressed the Australian legend most.
Once a team with a dearth of quality fast bowlers, India has come a long way and is flooding with talented Pacers. There was a period between 2012 to 2016 when India was struggling to find a reliable death bowler. The IPL has given exposure to lots of domestic players to come through the ranks.
McGrath believes, “The Indian attack has very good bowlers now and the emergence of names like Basil Thampi and a few others is only going to help the team in the long run. He has come on very well. His performances in IPL this year won him the Emerging Player award and he has learned a lot at the academy.”
Basil Thampi was the only positive in Gujarat Lions” otherwise dismal IPL season. He picked 11 wickets from 12 games and won the award for emerging player of the season. He displayed tremendous ability to bowl yorkers. However, experts believe he is still raw and needs more mentorship.
Once upon a time, he hoped to play for RCB in a bid to survive Gaylestorm. Little did he know his first wicket in IPL is going to be Gayle himself. Against RCB at Rajkot on April 18, 2017 Thampi bowled a toe crushing yorker and trapped the West Indian in front.
Talking about the wicket he said,”It was the best feeling of my life. It was my first wicket in the IPL. I got the big man”s wicket and I”m very happy to get him out,”
McGrath went on to call Mitchell Starc, world”s best fast bowler at the moment. “His (Starc’s) ability to bowl attacking lengths with the new ball and reverse the older ball at over 150 kph makes him a difficult proposition for batsmen,” McGrath said.
2018 is going to see an open IPL Auction where maximum 3-5 players will be allowed to retain and the majority will go under the hammer. Come 2018 IPL Auction and Thampi is going to be one of the most sought after guy in the league.
– by Atharva Apte
