Lara to Bangladesh batters: ‘If you attack Bumrah, you're going to bury yourself’

Batting great Brian Lara has shared stern advice for the Bangladesh batters about facing Jasprit Bumrah, who has been one of the best bowlers in the T20 World Cup thus far. 

Bumrah took the pitch out of the play with his brilliant performances match after match. The premier India pacer has raised his hands whenever the team is in trouble and rescued them in the crucial stage against arch-rivals Pakistan.

He also had another memorable night against Afghanistan in the Super 8 stage where he bowled 20 dot balls and claimed three wickets for seven runs in his four-over spell. He has picked 8 wickets this T20 WC and conceded just 4 boundaries which is a rare sight in the shortest format.

"I'll put you down on it. I think Jasprit Bumrah, obviously, is a world-class bowler. He is the best bowler in the world, but there are quite a few. I think I mentioned it a couple of days ago that if he wants to stay in the Western east, we can organise a passport, he can organise a place for him to stay, and he can play for the West Indies in the rest of a few years, you know, but just a humour I think he is world-class," Lara told Star Sports.

The opposition batters have found it tough to tackle Bumrah and struggled to score runs as the ones who tried to attack him ended up returning to the pavilion. He has an economy rate of 3.47 this T20 World Cup - best in the tournament by any bowler with 4 or more matches.

Lara asserted that if the Bangladesh batters decide to attack, they will only bury themselves as they have to play him cautiously to survive.

"I think what other players or other batters or other captains and managers, and you just have to do is understand that they don't have to go against Jasprit Bumrah. If Bangladesh want to succeed against India, they can't go after him. It's as simple as that. If you do, you're going to bury yourself," he added.

Lara didn't shy away from putting Bumrah on the elite lists which includes Glenn McGrath. Curtley Ambrose and Wasim Akram.

"And he's that good, and you know, it will trigger your patch bonus like that. The McGraths, the Ambros, Wasim Akram, he's just one of those top class bowlers that are going to go down in history as one of the greats. Then you want to try and take him out and that's the opera," Lara added.