Jasprit Bumrah: India's very own mystery fast bowler
Jasprit Bumrah is a unique fast bowling talent for India hailing from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. In a country that always looks for a special fast bowling talent, this guy is a ray of hope. He was brought to the limelight by the then Mumbai Indians coach John Wright during his talent scouts for MI back in 2013.
The former India coach was impressed by the youngster’s unique action and the pace he could generate. Immediately after his match, he was asked about his interest in joining the MI camp. For a 19-year-old who started playing cricket only after 10th standard that was quite a shock and a great achievement.
Bumrah was roped into the team having legends of the game like Tendulkar, Kumble and Ponting. He was given a great environment to settle in and learn the tricks of the trade from those great exponents of the game. He got his debut match against RCB after Malinga got injured and he didn’t disappoint. After two initial freebies to Virat Kohli, he got one to nip back in at pace and trapped Kohli in front of the wicket.
The spell showed the world that he is full of potential and courage and proved that he belonged to this stage. He ended that match with a 3-for, becoming the second bowler to do so on debut for MI. Since then he became an integral part of the MI bowling attack and helped the team to win the IPL6.
The 22-year-old made his debut for his Gujrat team on October 27th against Vidarbha. He played a key role by taking a total of 7 wickets in the match that was vital for his team’s victory. After that, his career took off and he became the go through bowler for Gujarat.
The fast bowler has played 18 Ranji trophy matches since then picking up impressive 64 wickets at an average of 25. He also got 39 scalps from 20 domestic one-day matches.
Phenomenal rise as a bowler
Earlier with his unique action, Bumrah was finding it difficult to be accurate. He always had the pace and the nip but he was struggling to put the ball at the right areas consistently. There were also questions raised on him being predictable in his way of attack.
His action requires him to go wide of the crease, thus getting that sharp incoming delivery going. This means that once the batsman gets a good look at his action, he could be easily negotiated and then taken apart.
But now with seasons of domestic grind and IPL under his belt, he has bettered leaps and bounds. He is the main bowler for MI at the death with the capability of delivering yorkers with tremendous precision.
Also, it seems that Bumrah has worked on his armoury and has added a new delivery to his repertoire, that just leaves the batsman after pitching. This added a new dimension to his bowling and the results are there to see
The road ahead
This year's Vijay Hazare trophy could be the breakthrough moment for his career. He was impressive throughout the tournament and finished the series as the leading wicket-taker. With 21 scalps including a 5-for in the finals, he was pivotal for his team's thumping Vijay Hazare trophy win.
All through the series, Bumrah was fast, menacing and aggressive. He consistently clocked speeds around 140kmph and gave some serious discomfort to the opposition batsmen.
The Ahmedabad-born bowler carried that hostile form into the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament also where he got 12 scalps till now from 6 games at a stupendous economy rate of just over 5. If he continues in this rich vein of form, a national call is not long ahead keeping in mind the gruelling season for India in 2016.
He is that kind of a bowler that India needs, full of energy and overflowing exuberance. With his toe-crushing yorkers and deadly bouncers, we hope that he would take Indian fast bowling forward and make it a fearsome attack in the years to come.