Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie labels two pacers as 'unplayable'

Pakistan’s interim head coach Jason Gillespie has heaped praise on two of the world’s finest fast bowlers, India's Jasprit Bumrah and Australia's Pat Cummins, labelling them as 'unplayable' due to their precision and resilience. With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy just around the corner, Gillespie highlighted how these pacers could become pivotal in deciding the fate of the much-anticipated series in Australia.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Gillespie lauded Bumrah and Cummins for their distinctive abilities to challenge batters with relentless accuracy and discipline.

"Their major strength is they are pretty relentless in attacking the batters. They have a good pace, bowl challenging lines and lengths, and are always forcing batsmen into tough decisions," Gillespie said.

The former Australian pacer emphasized that both bowlers possess the rare ability to deliver "unplayable deliveries" — whether it’s late swing, extra pace, or unexpected bounce off the pitch.

"They are relentless with their accuracy and discipline can also bowl those unplayable deliveries. Whether it swings really late or it just has that extra half-yard of pace or it just does something off the surface which not a lot of bowlers have," he added.

Bumrah's impressive record on Australian soil speaks volumes about his impact. In seven Tests, he has claimed 32 wickets at an average of 21.25 and an economy of 2.47, cementing him as a critical figure in India’s bowling lineup. Appointed India’s vice-captain for the series, his experience and control are expected to play a significant role in guiding India's pace attack.

On the Australian side, Cummins, backed by the firepower of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, stands ready to challenge the Indian batting lineup. Gillespie highlighted Australia's balanced bowling attack, including their spin spearhead Nathan Lyon, which he believes will create a formidable challenge for India’s batters.

The highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy will commence on November 22 in Perth, followed by matches in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.

India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.