“He is going to be lethal” - Abhishek Nayar reveals India’s key player in the first Test vs SA

Former Indian coach Abhishek Nayar has reckoned that the Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah would excel on the black soil surface at the Eden Gardens in the first Test against South Africa, starting on Friday, November 14.

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports’ Game Plan Show ahead of the first Test, Nayar asserted that Bumrah is a completely different ball game and the opposition is going to be discussing a lot about the ace pacer ahead of the series.

"Those conditions, black soil, he is going to be lethal. Someone, the opposition is going to be discussing a lot about, and no matter how much you discuss, when you stand and you have to face him, it's a completely different ball game. When Bumrah is in your attack, it kind of takes away from everyone else, and your focus is solely on Jasprit Bumrah picking wickets," Nayar said on Star Sports.

"Workload management again, he has been playing a lot of cricket, which is amazing to see. Luckily, in this T20 format (series against Australia), there were two games that were washed out. He will be relatively fresh and relatively excited because he is going to get conditions that he is going to really, really enjoy," he added.

For the unversed, Bumrah was recently under constant criticism for managing his workload during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England.

India's Test squad for South Africa series: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK) (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep.

South Africa's Test squad for India series: Temba Bavuma (C), Aiden Markram (VC), Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (WK), Zubayr Hamza, Corbin Bosch, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Simon Harmer, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj.

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