"He should lengthen his run-up" - Neeraj Chopra suggests a technical tweak to Jasprit Bumrah to increase his pace
Olympic gold winner and one of India's greatest-ever athletes, Neeraj Chopra, has suggested Jasprit Bumrah increase his run-up to add more pace to his bowling.
The ace javelin thrower was present at the Narendra Modi Stadium for the 2023 World Cup final and watched Bumrah bowl live against Australia. The right-arm pacer dismissed Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith but opener Travis Head's magnificent hundred helped Australia chase down 241 and win their sixth ODI World Cup title.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Chopra picked Bumrah as his favorite bowler and offered the following suggestion:
“I like Jasprit Bumrah, I find his action unique. I feel he should lengthen his run-up to add more pace. As a javelin thrower, we often discuss how bowlers can increase their pace if they start their run-up from a little further back. I like Bumrah’s style."
Notably, Bumrah suffered a couple of injuries in late December last year which ruled him out of most of the first half of 2023.
When he returned to action in August, he bowled with a slightly shorter run-up. His pace didn't dip too much because of it though he did seem even more accurate than before.
"Maybe, somewhere mentally, the Australian team held an edge" - Neeraj Chopra on World Cup final
Chopra admitted that he doesn't understand a few technicalities of cricket but read the tempo of the final as it slowly shifted out of India's hands in the second innings and the difference in the body languages of the two teams.
“Virat (Kohli) bhai and KL Rahul were batting when I reached. There are some technical things that I don’t understand. Batting in the daytime wasn’t very easy. In the evening, I think, batting became easy. But our guys tried. Sometimes, it’s just not our day. But, frankly, everyone had a great tournament," he said.
"Maybe, somewhere mentally, the Australian team held an edge at the start. When they bowled, I found they had a strong mindset. In the end, they had completely flipped it over. They were confident about their game,” Chopra added.