3 reasons why Jasprit Bumrah's six-fer in 2nd Test vs England is his best spell in the format
Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah ran the show on Day 2 of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam with his exceptional bowling display. England buckled down without much resistance to the spell, eventually getting all out for 253 runs, 143 short of the hosts' total in the first innings.
Bumrah finished with figures of 6-45, his second five-wicket haul in India, as well as his best-ever display in home conditions. The right-arm pacer showcased an exceptional exhibition of reverse swing and arguably bowled one of the best deliveries of his career to dismiss Ollie Pope. The England vice-captain had no answer to the yorker that broke his stumps and kickstarted England's downfall.
En route to his six-fer, the pacer also became the fastest Indian pacer to 150 Test wickets, proving the level at which he has been performing since his debut.
On that note, let us take a look at Jasprit Bumrah's six-fer in the second Test vs England is his best spell in the format.
#1 Conditions were not overly in his favor
The Visakhapatnam pitch largely favored the batters, even more than the spinners. Yashasvi Jaiswal showcased how batters can make the most of the pitch with a double hundred in the first innings, while Zak Crawley also showed the same to an extent.
It was not tailor-made conditions for Bumrah like it was a month ago in Newlands, Cape Town, where he thrived in optimal conditions. He relied on reverse swing to find success, using it to set the batters up and execute his skills to perfection.
It was showcased beautifully in the case of Joe Root's wicket, where the ace batter was unsure about which way the ball would go, eventually ending up misreading and edging one to slips.
What makes Bumrah's feat more impressive is that fellow pacer Mukesh Kumar struggled to make an impression. The latter only bowled seven overs, conceding over six runs per over, and ended up wicket-less.
#2 Ran through a strong England batting unit and earned his wickets
Bumrah's spell was far from a lower-order and tail-clearing act. He made the foundation of England's collapse and picked up some key wickets of Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes.
He left the aforementioned world-class batters clueless, especially Pope and Stokes, as he breached their defense in style. Both batters were left in utter disbelief as their stumps were uprooted by fiery deliveries from the pacers.
Each of the dismissals induced by Bumrah was crucial in India attaining a sizeable lead at the end of the first innings. In addition to his spell being high class in terms of pure skill, it made quite an impact.
#3 Struck at timely intervals
India were looking for quick wickets when England were cruising at 114-1 in the second session, and Bumrah delivered. While Crawley's wicket opened up the floodgates, the rest of the damage was carried out by the Indian pacer.
He dismissed the trio of Root, Pope and Bairstow in the space of 10 overs, bringing England down to their knees. When Team India needed to break the budding stand between Tom Hartley and Ben Stokes, it was once again Bumrah, who came through.
Apart from casting the opposition skipper, he ensured that the tail did not wag for too long by dismissing Hartley and James Anderson.
Statistically, only his effort at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) (6-33) reads better than his recent figures in Visakhapatnam. While his spell back then led to a famous Boxing Day win, the effort in the subcontinent marginally beats it, given how he had to rise over the conditions and other factors to earn his wickets.
Will the historic spell in Vishakapatnam end up as Bumrah's best effort in red-ball cricket? Let us know what you think.