Bumrah is just another gravy, isn't he? In white-ball cricket he's in a class of his own: Andy Flower

In the 2000 Nagpur Test, Zimbabwe followed despite making 382 in the first innings. Andy Flower made 232 not out in the second innings, despite India trying 10 bowlers, and the match ended in a draw. It remains the highest score by a wicketkeeper in Test cricket, in which he averaged 51.54. He led Zimbabwe to their first ever Test victory, against Pakistan in 1995. As a coach, he guided England to a T20 World Cup triumph in 2010 and to the number 1 ranking in Tests a year later. He also helped England to a Test series win in India in 2012; no visiting team has done so since. He remains in demand as a coach in franchise cricket. Excerpts from an exclusive interview Flower gave The Hindu by phone from Harare:

Ahead of the T20 World Cup final, you recently predicted that India would beat South Africa.

I thought the big difference would be Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav. Bumrah was excellent again. He's just a different gravy, isn't he? In white-ball cricket he's in a class of his own.

Michael Vaughan has said that Bumrah is the best seamer ever in white-ball cricket, surpassing even Wasim Akram, someone you played against a lot when you were playing for Zimbabwe.

I think it's a slightly unfair comparison because Wasim didn't play T20 cricket. He was brilliant at what he did in red-ball and 50-over cricket. He was absolutely sensational.

He certainly was at the 1992 World Cup, when you made your international debut.

Yes, he was incredible in that World Cup. If he had played T20 cricket, he would have developed his skills even further and added more variety. Even with the skills he had then, he would have been one of the best fast bowlers in world cricket now.

The T20 World Cup was Rahul Dravid's last assignment as India coach.

He has been on the road for a while. He has worked hard with the NCA for years. That would have been a great benefit to Indian cricket. And then he has done a great job with the national team, but that is not surprising because in everything he has done, he has always conducted himself with grace, dignity and integrity.

Then you add his cricket knowledge, and his ability to connect and interact with his players and staff. I can imagine that being an Indian head coach is a very demanding role. I have played a similar role, and now I want to take on a different role where I can spend more time at home. I totally get it. [why Dravid didnt want to continue].

Speaking of coaches, who are you most impressed with?

Oh, that's quite a question! I think Duncan Fletcher has done a great job with the teams he's coached. His knowledge and his attention to detail has been excellent. We've talked about Rahul and how I respect him. I think Peter Moores is a brilliant coach in a different way, with his energy, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. You know, it would be great if he got the chance to express that in international cricket again.

I loved working with Graham Gooch. He's done all the jobs in English cricket but he was a great coach in many ways. He worked with me as a batting coach and helped me a lot.

I think Andrew McDonald is a great coach. He is a little less known than some of the big names, like Ricky Ponting. He is perhaps a little underrated by the outside world, but anyone who has ever talked to him about cricket or worked with him will rate him very highly. I think Australia is in good hands.

Two shades of awesome:Flower says he has watched Sachin Tendulkar a lot from behind the sticks and respects him as a player and a guy. | Photo credit: Getty Images

As a coach you led England to victory in the 2010 T20 World Cup and then took England from last place to number one in the Test competition.

That World Cup in the Caribbean was sensational. That’s one of the best tours I’ve ever done. We had a lot of fun, partly because there were very few expectations. We just changed the way we did things. We picked an attacking team with a lot of variety.

We have selected two brand new openers [Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb]with the express permission to attack with gleeful abandon. Which they did. They were supported by Kevin Pietersen, who was already playing like that. And Paul Collingwood was a brand new captain. He brought a lot of creativity and ideas from his IPL experience, which was really good for me. We brought some innovations into our attack, with David Saker, who was a new bowling coach for us.

Helping England become world number one in Tests for the first time was also a great experience. That was an interesting journey, you know, setting a target and plotting our path to get there. It was a great challenge. I really enjoyed beating Australia three times in the Ashes. That’s a really tough task. As was winning in India in 2012. I think that was a major achievement. We had to try and get this group of English batsmen to deal with the Indian spinners in Indian conditions.

Pioneer:Flower holds the record for the highest score by a wicketkeeper in Test cricket: 232 not out. | Photo credit: Getty Images

The English batsmen must have got some help from their head coach, who had done quite well against the Indian spinners

Yes, it gave me confidence in my own knowledge of the conditions and how to play in them. But ultimately batting is a very personal thing. How to stay long enough to score runs, how to defend confidently and then how to put pressure back on the spinners and how to deal with reverse swing. I had had success in India, it probably gave me more confidence as a coach to talk about that. But we had Graham Gooch as our batting coach. And we had Mushtaq Ahmed as our spin coach. So that was a big advantage for us as well, having that knowledge in our dressing room.

Who is the best batsman and bowler you have ever faced?

I have to say Wasim Akram was the best bowler. He was great, with pace and cunning, knowledge and variety. I loved watching Sachin Tendulkar play. And I watched him play a lot behind the stumps. I respected him, both as a player and as a guy. I think he handled all that stardom amazingly well. I thought Steve Waugh was a competitor on a different level. More recently, Virat Kohli, who I loved working with at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, where I watched him up close. I respect him a lot.

(This interview was facilitated by Sony Sports Network)