Published: Jun 29, 2025, 02:01 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 29, 2025, 02:01 PM (IST)
India will have to rely heavily on their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah to win Test matches, but they have the ability to beat every side in 50-over games, given the depth of their talent, feels South African-born England legend Allan Lamb.
The ex-cricketer, who now runs ‘Lamb Associates’, a successful hospitality venture, is happy with the rise of Indian cricket and how the IPL has been life-changing for cricketers around the world, but he is not too happy with the way ICC is running Test cricket.
The 71-year-old, who represented England in three Wold Cups and 79 Tests, and witnessed the historic occasion of South Africa winning the World Test Championship final, is far from convinced with how the WTC can survive in its existing format.
Forced to move to England from SA in the Apartheid era, he gave his thoughts on the controversial racial quota system in South African cricket.
Speaking to PTI, Lamb also spoke passionately about his playing days with Kapil Dev in County cricket and why he rates Sachin Tendulkar over Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli.
Lamb while talking about Indian cricket said, “I always thought that Indian cricket was going to go up, it was on the gradual climb. And because of the population and being your number one sport, cricket was always going to be the top of the tree. The IPL has changed cricket in India and the world. It’s incredible to see these youngsters coming through, the 15-year-olds and the 16-year-olds (like Vaibhav Suryavanshi), and making a name for themselves.”
“In one day cricket, India should win every competition. In Test matches, you’re going to rely a lot on Bumrah and you’re going to miss Virat Kohli big time.” he added
Lamb also reflected on IPL’s impact on International cricket and said, “It’s changed the life of all cricketers that are playing now. They don’t have to play Test cricket. They can just have 20-20 contracts all around the world and earn a fortune. I mean, the money we earned was tippings when we played. But good for them. They deserve all the millions; as entertainers they deserve to be paid.”
“And would have I enjoyed the IPL? Yeah, because when I played, I always waited till the last 20 overs or the last 10 overs if we’re playing a 50-over game.” he added
Lamb also recalled meeting Kapil Dev, “I love the way Kapil Dev played. We played together at Northampton. I remember him coming over and I saying, ‘Kapi, I’m so pleased that you’ve come over. We need to strengthen our bowling’. He said, ‘no I haven’t come to strengthen my bowling. I’ve come to better my batting. I’ve come here as a batsman, which I always enjoyed that’.
Lamb easily picked Sachin as the best among Gavaskar, Kohli, and Sachin.”Sachin easily. I played against him when he was 18. I dropped him at slip and he went to get 100 (in a Test match). So I always say to him, it was me that made your name (laughs).”
“Kohli is a brilliant player, he’s got all the shots, he can score quickly. But if you want the best player I played against, that Indian player is Sachin, even ahead of Sunny. The only thing I would have liked to see Sachin play the West Indies, where Sunny scored runs against the West Indies. He was probably the only Indian to score runs against those quicks.”
Lamb on current WTC format, “The ICC is going to have to do something about it because the format they have for international Test matches, people are not too sure what is going on there as it’s done over two years.”
“There are some teams, like everyone said, that South Africa qualified due to the fact that they played all the weaker teams. But that wasn’t South Africa’s problem. That was the ICC’s problem. They came up with that.”
“And, I believe, you need a two-tier structure. And that’s got to come in very rapidly. The ICC chairman, he’s got to sit down, otherwise, cricket’s going to be at a loss. You need strong teams playing each other but they’ve also got to play the weaker teams.”
Lamb said, “Yes, I was there (at Lord’s). We had customers, clients there, and it was fantastic. I mean, South Africa are known as the chokers. If you have a look how many times they’ve blown it. Very proud of the way Aiden Markram batter under pressure.”
-PTI
