New Delhi [India], November 25 : Former cricketer and 1983 World Cup-winning star Madan Lal put a flashy tag of "best in the world" on India's bowling unit after witnessing them dazzle on the Perth Test strip in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener against Australia.
India raised the heat in Perth despite missing out on mainstays, including Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
The entire Test match was primarily dominated by India across all departments as Australia stood speechless on their knees throughout the four days of play.
KL Rahul (77), Virat Kohli (100*), and Yashasvi Jaiswal (161) took the brunt of piling up runs on the board while "national treasure" Jasprit Bumrah spearheaded the pace attack in both innings.
"I must appreciate Jaiswal, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli. These three batsmen have done a great job. They played very well. On the fourth day, also there was a lot of bounce, and I think that's the reason they won, and it has set up the series as an interesting series," Madan Lal told ANI.
With a record-setting 295-run victory in Perth, India reignited hopes of making next year's World Test Championship final for the third successive time.
Bumrah kept breathing down Australian batters' throats and returned with match figures of 8/72. For his outright dominance in Perth, the stand-in skipper was deemed Player of the Match in the BGT opening match at the Optus Stadium.
Mohammed Siraj and debutant Harshit Rana also played perfect backup to the A-Lister and chipped in with wickets at crucial junctures.
"The first Test match in Australia is always a very important match, especially this one, which was happening in Perth where the result goes against touring teams mostly, but I feel that India played excellent cricket, and the best thing is that our bowling attack is the best in the world. We have the best spinner, and we have the best fast bowler that's the reason we have won," he added.
Bumrah stepped in to lead India in the absence of Rohit Sharma and executed the role perfectly. He ensured that the tempo remained high and India players remained relentless in their attacking approach.
"A captain is as good as his team, but if a captain leads from the front like Jasprit Bumrah, then it is very good for the team. Your chances for a team increase," Madan Lal noted.
Apart from his captaincy skills, Bumrah's flawless deliveries, with some of them being "unplayable" were a stark reminder of the overall impact he is going to have in the remaining four Tests.
"I feel Bumrah will cause a lot of problems to Australians in this series because batters who have 8,000-plus runs are not able to handle him, and how can Australia's batters who have experience of a few Test matches in the top order be able to face him?" he remarked.