ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Jasprit Bumrah goes ‘Boom Boom’ in England as he eyes the batsmen’s toes

MANCHESTER: He may not like to admit it, but Jasprit Bumrah has spent a better part of his three year international career proving critics wrong. At first, he was considered good enough just for Twenty20 cricket, and then slowly got accepted as a one-day bowler. 

When he succeeded in these two white-ball formats, he was earmarked by the team think tank as someone to bank on for Tests, but the world was not convinced.

HOLDING IT BACK
Former West Indies pace bowling legend Michael Holding was quite vocal on Bumrah’s possible career as Test cricketer before he made his debut in South Africa last year.

“I am not sure he is going to be a good new ball bowler. He struggles to take the ball away from right-handers when bowling with the new ball. So he wouldn’t be my first choice (on overseas tours). My first choice is always Bhuvneshwar Kumar,” Holding told PTI. Holding’s message in particular was clear that Bumrah would not start for him in the India XI, especially during the Tests in England later in 2018.

Bumrah made an instant impact in South Africa during the Tests. Then in England when his start was delayed by an injury, Bumrah’s absence was felt majorly. He made an instant impact thereafter.

Holding was not the only one who has been proved wrong by Bumrah. The first leader of the Indian pace attack which actually started its formal journey in 1978-79, Kapil Dev too was not convinced about Bumrah. His unconventional action and approach to bowling did not sit well with the great Kapil Dev.

THUNDER DOWN UNDER
But when Bumrah bowled to India to a famous first-ever Test series win in Australia in 2018-19, Kapil too joined the bandwagon.

“I have to tell you that Bumrah has proved me wrong. When I saw him first time I had thought (whether) he could last long with this kind of action, but he has. His mindset must be strong.”

It is this strength of his mind that has helped Bumrah evolve, and made him first amongst equals in an otherwise even pace bowling line-up.

“I don’t take praise or criticism seriously,” is how Bumrah summed up his state of mind. He just smiles his way through adversity and hardly ever appears angry on the field. Unlike fast bowling peers who like to snarl and make gestures or make bold statements, Bumrah is the typical genial Indian quick bowler. 

PENCHANT FOR YORKERS
Bumrah’s consistency to bowl Yorkers at will in the limited-overs format, especially at the death, makes him the go-to bowler for skipper Kohli. It is an ability which was missing from the time Srinath bowled in the 1990s. Zaheer yorked his way into our minds in his debut season in 2000-01, while Ishant was never one to execute those skills.

But Bumrah was cut from a different cloth. His experience with tennis ball cricket and his time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) made him adept at delivering the yorkers and generally in bowling under pressure in white-ball cricket. So much so that one of the talent scouts of IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, Kiran More, also a former India stumper, termed him as India’s Lasith Malinga.

MALINGA’S LEGACY
The original Malinga too praised his ward at the end of his World Cup 2019 campaign. “I saw him (Bumrah) in 2013 and spent time with him. He was hungry to learn, and he learnt quickly. Hunger to learn is very important. Bumrah has shown the character in a short period,” Malinga was quoted as saying.

“He is a skilful bowler and knows he can bowl same balls one after the other. The thing is anyone can bowl yorkers, slower ones and good length balls. But the idea is to have the accuracy,” added Malinga.

Ian Bishop, the mainstay of the West Indies’ pace battery through the 90s, feels Bumrah makes greater impact than any other bowler across formats.

If you look at the bare facts, it might be easy to overlook Bumrah’s tournament performance. Seventeen wickets at 19 is certainly impressive after the group stage. 

“He’s been maybe the best bowler. The wickets don’t show how valuable he has been. The likes of Starc have more, but Bumrah’s been brilliant,” says Bishop.

Bumrah, given how central he has become to India’s aspirations, might be the rare exception, as a fast bowler capable of elevating himself to the unfathomable stratosphere of fandom. If not, India’s exceptional pace man will never be short of legendary supporters around the game.