Jasprit ‘Impossible to Play’ Bumrah
‘Fantastic’ Jasprit Bumrah has taken pitch out of equation, says Dale Steyn
It’s truly special, very special, when a player like Dale Steyn praises you. It definitely means that you did something right on the 22 yards. On January 23, 2016, in Sydney, Australia, the debut of Jasprit Bumrah, his running and unorthodox action didn’t take much time to make an impact on the international scene. From then till now, things have only gone upward for him.
What makes Bumrah a difficult bowler? Is it his action? Some say yes, but there were many other bowlers in the past with difficult unorthodox actions who didn’t make the same impact. For others, it’s his short run-up that makes the difference. With a couple of jittery hops, he surprises with his skittish action. There are numerous anecdotes available about his bowling, but there are a few other attributes that don’t come under the radar, such as playing with line and length. He’s not one of those bowlers who can irritate you with consistent bowling length. What makes him different is his ability to shuffle lengths according to the situation, something we’ve seen in Mitchell Starc in the current lot and Lasith Malinga in the past, who play with the line of the pitch.
The Indian speedster is currently taking the world by storm with his bowling and was recently awarded by ICC as he became India’s first fast bowler to reach the No 1 position in the Test charts. Before him, it was Kapil Dev in 1979 who was ranked 3rd retrospectively in the Test charts. But with all the laurels and achievements, he went through a rough patch because of his back injury, which kept him out of the Indian bowling lineup for nearly 12 months. During this time, he also missed the T20 World Cup, and it’s fair to say India also missed him in that World Cup. But when he came back, he came back with stellar performances, leading the team in Ireland and then doing a wonderful job in the Asia Cup and 50-over World Cup.
And when the Test matches started, he silenced many critics who doubted his place in Test matches. Firstly, in South Africa, where he delivered a 6-wicket haul magic spell in the second Test match of the series, and then against England at home, with back-to-back 5-wicket hauls in both Test matches. The Test series against England is currently at an interesting level of 1–1, with 3 Test matches left, and he’s currently leading the bowling charts with 15 wickets. India will look to take a strong grip over the series.