Jason Gillespie boldly rates Australia's bowling attack better than India's in Tests

Former Australian cricketer Jason Gillespie recently said that the current Australian bowling attack is the best in the world in Test cricket. Gillespie, who retired from all forms of cricket in 2008, was himself a highly-rated bowler from Australia during his playing days. The right-arm pacer bagged 259 wickets in 71 Tests and 142 wickets in 97 ODIs and he was part of the dominating Australian unit of the early 2000s.

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Jason Gillespie praises Australian bowling attack

In a recent appearance on Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Jason Gillespie praised the current Australian bowling attack which comprises the likes of Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. He particularly praised the opening bowling duo of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood by saying they could “potentially” become Australia’s “greatest opening combination” of all time. The cricketer-turned-coach also praised the bench strength of Australian bowlers and hailed Pat Cummins for his effective abilities with the old ball as well as with the new ball.

Jason Gillespie further made a bold prediction that going ahead, pacers like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood could well be counted among the greatest bowlers the country has ever produced.

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ICC Test rankings seem to agree with Jason Gillespie as three Australian bowlers feature in the top 10 bowlers list. Pat Cummins is currently ranked the number 1 bowler in the world, followed by Mitchell Starc at number 6 and Josh Hazlewood at number 10. Meanwhile, off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the highest-ranked Australian bowler outside the top 10 as he is placed at number 16.

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R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah: Indian bowlers in ICC rankings

Australia recently dethroned India at the top of the ICC Test team rankings. Before Australia at the helm, Virat Kohli and co. remained the no.1 ranked team between October 2016 and April 2020. A lot of credit was given to Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami and the spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for India’s dominance.

In fact, as many as six Indian bowlers still feature in top 20 ICC Test rankings for bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah is the highest-ranked Indian at number 5, while Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav occupy the 15th, 17th and 20th spots respectively. Meanwhile, Indian spin wizards R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja find themselves at number 12 and number 18 respectively.

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