Former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu has praised Chennai Super Kings seamer Anshul Kamboj for his ability to bowl at different stages of the match. CSK registered a comprehensive eight-wicket win against Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Saturday.

Kamboj returned with impressive figures of 3-32 in his quota of four overs and thus played a key role in restricting MI to 159-7. The right-arm pacer from Haryana has scalped 17 wickets in nine matches at an average of 15.82 and an economy rate of 8.49 in this season of the IPL. Thus, he is the joint highest wicket-taker along with RCB’s pack leader Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Ambati Rayudu said on ESPN Cricinfo, “I think his capability of bowling in the powerplay, in the middle, as well as in the death – when you can do these three, I think you are among the top-five bowlers who have ever played IPL, because most of them can’t do all three. We can name people on our fingers who can do these three things and do them brilliantly. His death bowling has improved quite a bit and especially that angle from around the stumps and his nailing of those yorkers, it’s quite impressive. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

On the other hand, former New Zealand fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan compared Kamboj with the likes of bowlers like Josh Hazlewood and Kagiso Rabada. The former MI seamer said Kamboj has the ability to hit the six-to-eight-metre area consistently.

“What I like the most about him, and about the guys who have been successful in this IPL so far, [is that] they have got the highest percentage of being able to hit that six-to-eight-metre length with the new ball and he does that. You’ve got Josh Hazlewood, you’ve got [Mohammed] Siraj, you’ve got [Kagiso] Rabada, you’ve got Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar], and Kamboj is in that bracket as well.”

Chennai Super Kings will next take on Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, on Tuesday.