Jasprit Bumrah reveals how he learnt the art of bowling yorkers
What's the story?
Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah opened up about how he started bowling yorkers to Vikram Sathaye in an episode of his video series, "What The Duck" . The Gujarat pacer admitted that he used to watch the videos of Pakistani bowlers and as a kid, he thought that yorker is the only option to take a wicket.
So, he used to try and hit the base of the wall in his house and that's how he started to learn the art of bowling yorkers.
When asked about "did he do a lot of practice, focus, mental strength like the great Wasim Akram used to do for bowling yorker?", Bumrah said, "no, I didn't do any of these things. I started my cricket by watching television. I used to watch cricket throughout the day, all the time. What I used to do is, I used to watch their (Pakistan bowlers) videos because they were the bowling kings at that time. So I used to think that they are getting wickets on yorkers. So I always thought as a kid that if I have to take wickets then yorker is the only option."
"When you are a kid, you cannot always go out and play. So during the hot afternoons, we had a big hall. What I used to do there is, I will try and hit the base of the wall. If you bowl there, there won't be any noise and you can play for a longer period of time. This is because, if you make noise, your mother will come out and you will get bashed. So the basic convenient way was to do that. So then I started to do that and then I started to play with a tennis ball and a rubber ball. So this is how I bowled and this is the only thing which I know. So I started to do that," he added.
In case you didn't know
Ever since making his debut for India in 2016, Bumrah has established himself as a regular in the limited-over formats.
The right-arm pacer has played 21 ODIs and 25 T20Is for the Men in Blue and has taken 41 wickets at an average of 20.87 and 34 wickets at an average of 18.38 respectively.
The details
Without a doubt, the Gujarat pacer is one of the best limited-overs bowlers in the world. He can swing the new ball, get some early breakthrough for his team, very good at death as he has a lot of variations, lethal yorkers, bouncers, slower ones, up his sleeve.
With his recent performances, he has moved to number four in the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers while he is the second best in the rankings for the T20I format.
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Author's Take
Bumrah has had a great start to his International career. If he continues to bowl the way he does, his dream of representing India in Tests will become a reality soon. With the 2019 World Cup just 20 months away, Bumrah is expected to be India's X-factor going into the extravaganza.