ICC T20 WC: Bumrah good at everything he does, barely misses a yorker, says Dutch pacer Gugten

By Vishesh Roy
New Delhi [India], October 6 : India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has in the last couple of seasons grown into a match-winner with the ball. His antics with the ball has not just won him praise from fans, but also contemporaries have been mesmerized by his ability to rise to the challenge consistently. And Netherlands pacer Timm van der Gugten is no different as he sees the Indian fast-bowler as one of the best in the business.
Along with Bumrah, van der Gugten also named Rashid Khan and Trent Boult as the best bowlers in modern-day cricket.
"In terms of spin bowler, I will have to go with Rashid Khan. I was lucky enough to play a little bit with him and train with him just recently. Just about how he goes about preparing for cricket games and his ability to kind of repeat his length and pace and subtle variations was quite phenomenal to watch. In terms of pace bowling, I am not too sure. It would have to be either Jasprit Bumrah, I am enjoying watching Trent Boult bowl at the moment," Gugten told ANI in an interaction organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
"Boult looks to pitch the ball up and swing it and at the death, he has been phenomenal. Bumrah is just, I do not know how he does it, he is good at everything he does. He bowls quick, he changes the pace up, barely misses a yorker, those three are my favourites to watch at the moment," he added.
The Netherlands also has experience in their ranks as the 41-year-old Ryan ten Doeschate will look to take his team forward in the showpiece event. ten Doeschate was the side's second-highest run-scorer as they defended their title in the T20 World Cup qualifiers in 2019.
"It is great having Ryan with us, he is a wonderful player. What he does bring, is a lot of experience. He does not say a lot but when he does, he grabs everyone's attention. He is normally pretty spot on. It is just nice having someone like that in the dressing room, he can give advice to everyone. I am sure he will contribute a lot to us potentially winning few games," said the pacer.
Talking about the pitches in the UAE, the Netherlands pacer said: "We have watched a little bit of the IPL, in saying that the wickets could be different when we come up to them in a couple of weeks. We are trying to not read too much into that. We have noticed that some of the wickets have played a little bit harder than they tend to. We will work on our variations, that is part and parcel these days as bowlers. You cannot go in with just one plan."
"We have a lot of bases required, if we require spin, we have a lot of spinners in our squad. We have got a few options with pacers. So yeah, I think we will have to adapt better than the opposition," he added.
The Netherlands is placed in Group A of the Qualifying Stages for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup alongside Sri Lanka, Namibia, and Ireland. The top two sides from the group will qualify for the Super 12 Stages.
"This pre-kind of qualifiers right ahead of the World Cup are always tough. You have only three games and you cannot put a foot wrong if you want to get through. We have just come out of quarantine here in Dubai, we have been training, getting used to the heat. We have some practice games coming up. I am sure by the time the tournament rolls around, we will be ready to go. We are really excited, we have got a good mix in our group and yeah, we have our eyes firmly set on the first game against Ireland," said the 30-year-old.
The Pieter Seelaar-led side will start its campaign in the showpiece event against Ireland on October 18 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The next two games against Namibia and Sri Lanka will be played on October 20 and October 22.
"I would not say that we will have an upper hand against Ireland. We have played against them quite a lot, we do know a lot about their players. Sometimes, there can be complacency when you have played a team bit too much. On the flipside, Ireland knows a lot about us. I mean, yeah, they are a very good cricketing nation and every game we play against them is really tight," said Gugten.
"The ODI series we recently had against them, we did come up with a win but all the matches were really tight, they could have gone either way. We are obviously looking forward to playing against them, we will go into the match with confidence but we do know we have to play well to get on top of them," he added.
Netherlands squad: Pieter Seelaar (c), Colin Ackermann, Philippe Boissevain, Bas de Leede, Paul van Meekeren, Ben Cooper, Max O'Dowd, Scott Edwards, Ryan ten Doeschate, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Brandon Glover, Fred Klaassen, Logan van Beek, Stephan Myburgh.