Former Indian captain Kapil Dev has hailed the superlative efforts of the present Indian seam attack, saying that the current crop of fast bowlers have changed the face Indian cricket in the past four-five years. The former all-rounder also felt that this was the best ever Indian pace attack.

With pace ace Jasprit Bumrah being ruled out of the ongoing Test series against South Africa due to stress fracture in his back, Indian still boasts of a lethal pace attack with Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Deepak Chahar in their ranks.

In the first Test in Visakhapatnam, Shami bwoled a match winning spell in the second innings to rattle half of the South African batting line-up and return with figures of 5/35. However, Shami doesn't feature in the top 10 of the ICC Test bowlers' rankings.

"No issues about that (not being in the top 10). How effective he (Shami) has been for the team is more important. Great to see him doing well and that's the bottom line," Kapil said.

"I am proud of the quality of Indian fast bowlers. They have come in numbers," he added.

Kapil also credited the Indian Premier League (IPL) for providing many young pacers the platform to showcase their talent.

"It takes time to develop a pace attack. It feels good to witness the amount of cricket that is being played now. Because of the IPL, so many fast bowlers have got an opportunity," he said.