Jasprit Bumrah has begun the countdown to his first hundred wickets in traditional, and undoubtedly entertaining, Test match cricket. In fact, the son of a schoolteacher, who arrived at the scene with strange run-ups and strange movements, is running towards a milestone, which the fast bowlers work towards achieving in the shortest amount of time. Given the big break, perhaps a year late, Bumrah has troubled most of the opening pairs trained to face the new ball operators.
Born seven years before the new millennium, Ahmedabad-born Bumrah cannot disappoint with his superb hard work, which has so far brought him 92 scalps from 21 matches, till the first Test against England at Trent Bridge. He should join the 100-wicket club for the remainder of the five-match series to be played at Lord’s, The Oval, Leeds and Old Trafford in London.
Long described by former New Zealand fast medium bowler Danny Morrison as a fast bowler with “neither here, nor there run-ups”, Bumrah, short of injuries and for personal reasons, made his debut against South Africa missed 13 Tests in January 2018. Amazingly, India’s win percentage is a high 84. 62 when he was not in the bowling ranks. In his absence, India have won 11 out of 13 matches. And at 21 he has gone white, India’s eight wins, 10 losses for a disappointing win percentage of 38.10.
These figures would have improved slightly had it not rained in the last day’s play of the Trent Bridge Test. His strong spell in two innings saw him reach match figures of nine for 110 and take four and five wickets at an average of 12.22. He had put India in a commanding position, a rare occurrence for India in the first match of an overseas Test series.
The uniqueness of his bowling style has always sought to attract attention, with experts in the art of fast bowling dissecting every section of the bowling crease, arm action, wrist position with the ball and his approach to explosive finishes. Is. His yorker-length toe crusher has quivered many batsmen in his shoes over the past four years, and this particular variety was responsible for the downfall of a handful of England batsmen at Trent Bridge.
He was ruled out of the fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba earlier this year due to an abdominal strain. He played only two Test matches against England in the home series played in Chennai and Ahmedabad. Taking a break for his marriage, and after prolonged inactivity from multi-day cricket, Bumrah looked poor in the World Test Championship final, in which India lost to New Zealand in Southampton.
But a six-week break from the game, in which he spent three weeks in focused training, saw him come back strongly with nine wickets, which exposed the fragile nature of England’s top order. Sharing the new ball with Mohammed Shami, Bumrah raised questions on the fresh surface on the first day and the pitch on the fourth day.
In the first innings, he dismissed Rory Burns and Jos Buttler for a duck each, and the tail – Stuart Broad and James Anderson – was cleaned up with force.
In the second innings, Bumrah accounted for Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Sam Curran and Stuart Broad to take his second five-wicket haul at Trent Bridge. In the 2018 series, he took two for 32 and five for 85 at the same venue as India went on to win that Test.
Bumrah has proved to be versatile, manipulating the Australian Kookaburra and the English Duke with great skill and knowledge. He has taken 55 wickets in these two countries, 32 in Australia and 23 in England. He has taken 14 wickets in South Africa, 13 in West Indies and six in New Zealand. He has taken four wickets in two Test matches in India.
Obviously, Bumrah has been lucky to play 19 Tests abroad but the most admirable thing is that he hasn’t wasted time to adapt to the local conditions.
Commenting on Bumrah’s success at Trent Bridge, Sunil Gavaskar said that the 27-year-old does not go into an upbeat mood, and does not celebrate the wicket with unnecessary gestures. “Even if a fielder drops his bowling catch, he doesn’t react, he just turns and goes back to bowl the next ball,” said the Sony Sports veteran.
After his five-wicket haul in the second innings, Bumrah explained: “I didn’t do anything to change my bowling after the WTC final. I am trying to diversify my bowling. The pitch had rolled quite a bit before England’s second innings. The pitch slowed down a bit and the batsmen found it easier to play fuller lengths. It was just a change of mindset. I return my skills.”
Since Bumrah made his Test debut (January 5, 2018), Broad has taken 125 wickets in 35 Tests; Pat Cummins, 120 of 24; Nathan Lyons, 109 of 25; Ravichandran Ashwin, 109 out of 24; Kagiso Rabada, 24 to 108; Tim Southee, 106 of 21, and Mohammed Shami, 93 of 25.
Bumrah has 92 kills and is just shy of eight out of a whopping 100. To deal with a tricky client, Bumrah has really become the linchpin of India’s bowling attack.
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