Former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra feels Jasprit Bumrah is all ready to grab a Test cap before the series opener between India and South Africa in Cape Town on January 5. Bumrah has witnessed a rapid rise in the international arena since his debut in 2016 against Australia and has been tagged a death specialist with his pinpoint yorkers.

He has been picked in the Test team for the first time following a great run in the home season, where he won several close encounters for India. Experts were insisting for his inclusion for South Africa Tests and selectors did the same thing with their selection.

Talking about Bumrah, Nehra said “He has the most lethal yorker among the five pacers along with good slower ones. Also, he has an awkward high-arm action, which can be very difficult to pick initially. All these factors work in Bumrah’s favor.”

“Cape Town, during January, can get hot and the conditions may not be seam-friendly. Now if it becomes humid and the pitch is a flat one, then Bhuvneshwar may not get the desired swing and seam movement. The seam of the white and red ball is the same and when the seam is no longer pronounced, ones who can hit the deck hard get an advantage,” he added.

The southpaw tried to solve India’s fast bowling combination and quoted “A bit of cloud cover and grass on the pitch will mean that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has a chance of playing, it’s a choice between Bumrah, Umesh and Bhuvneshwar. Now Umesh has a fantastic outswinger at a good pace. He has bowled a lot in home conditions during the past season and is also a contender. But I believe the choice would be very much condition specific.”

India is on a two month long tour of South Africa, where both teams will be playing three Test apart of six ODIs and three T20Is from January 5 to February 24.