Jasprit Bumrah. (Photo Source: BCCI)
Jasprit Bumrah rattled England’s batting unit in the second innings of the second Test in Visakhapatnam. On a surface expected to assist the spinners, the 30-year-old picked up six wickets, which derailed England’s momentum as they were bundled out for 253 runs, helping India take a significant lead of 143 runs.
Bumrah bowled an impeccable yorker to Ollie Pope to get the better of him and another unplayable bowl to Ben Stokes to clean him up. He also got the wickets of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Tom Hartley and James Anderson. Speaking about his qualities, former cricketer Stuart Broad mentioned that facing Bumrah is a challenge in itself and he used to hate it. He added that the Ahmedabad-born cricketer is incredible in T20 cricket but is even more effective in Test cricket.
“He’s an incredible T20 bowler, but as his record attests, he is even more effective in Test cricket. Statistically, he is right up there with the very best to have played the game. Facing him isn’t like facing anyone else in the world and I used to hate it,” Broad wrote in his Sunday Coloumn for Mail.
Analysing his skillset, Broad noted that Bumrah can create such a whip that often troubles the batters. He mentioned that it’s a good sign for a fast bowler and added that the pacer has the ability to swing both ways, which makes him very dangerous.
“He creates such whip at the crease by bracing his front leg – always a good sign for bowling fast – and then releasing the ball, not over his head or even his front foot, but a good foot closer to the bat. Bumrah has also got a complete array of skills. He is able to swing the new ball both ways away from left-handers from around the wicket or, as we witnessed on Saturday, get the older ball reverse-swinging,” Broad wrote.