Jasprit Bumrah reveals how Mumbai Indians talent scout John Wright spotted him during a domestic T20 encounter
Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah recently recounted the time Mumbai Indians talent scout John Wright spotted him during a domestic T20 encounter between Gujarat and Mumbai, This eventually led to his historic signing with the franchise.
Bumrah recently had an open chat with Indian glovesman Dinesh Karthik on Sky Sports where the latter asked him about the events that led to him signing an IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians.
The pacer revealed that Wright had come to watch MI’s latest signing Akshar Patel during a T20 fixture between Gujarat and Mumbai. Bumrah said that while he did not pick up a lot of wickets, he bowled decently which impressed Wright. He recalled:
"I was just selected for the T20 competition, and that was just my second game and it was against Mumbai. So, John Wright had come to watch Akshar. I didn't know I would get picked. I didn't pick a lot of wickets, I just picked one but I bowled really well, I didn't give a lot of runs.
Bumrah added:
"So, he came to watch one more game. He enquired and PP (Parthiv Patel) told me that he was asking about me. I thought he was clearly joking and making fun of me. After a few days, I got a call from the Mumbai Indians and they asked me, 'Are you interested?' I said, 'Of course, I am interested, that's not even a question. Are you guys interested?'"
Dinesh Karthik was also a part of the Mumbai Indians set-up when Jasprit Bumrah made his debut for the franchise. Karthik recalled how the fast bowler looked extremely confident during the introduction session despite the presence of legendary cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Jonty Rhodes.
However, Bumrah revealed that he wasn’t really confident while speaking in front of his childhood heroes and it was just a case of him holding his shape at the time.
Bumrah recounted:
"I don't know if that was how it was looking. I was not confident because as a 19-year-old kid, you come into a room where all your heroes - Sachin Tendulkar walks into a room, Ricky Ponting is next, Anil Kumble is next, Mitchell Johnson, Jonty Rhodes, and you were just playing U-19 cricket and now you are here. I was able to talk, but I was not really confident. I was trying to hold my shape and try to get through the session."
Bumrah formed an amazing partnership with Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga right from his early days at MI. The Indian pace bowling spearhead recounted how the Sri Lankan veteran came up to him during his first few days with the franchise to offer him a word of encouragement.
He also recalled the conversations he had with Malinga when he was really desperate to play international cricket.
"I had an interesting partnership with Malinga. He usually doesn't talk a lot but he came up to me on his own and said, 'I saw your bowling in the last game and I feel you can really do well.' I connected with him on that level and he told me that you have got a lot of things to offer," said Bumrah.
''Since then the partnership has been good. He still talks to me, even during those phases when I was really eager to play international cricket. He taught me a lot of things. He said that hard times will come and before playing international cricket, you need to see everything," added Bumrah.
Jasprit Bumrah reveals his favorite mode of dismissal
Jasprit Bumrah shot into the spotlight due to his ability to bowl yorkers at will. It comes as no surprise that hitting the timber with a pinpoint yorker remains his favorite mode of dismissal.
Bumrah recalled that since he played only tennis ball cricket as a child, he was of the impression that bowling the batsman out with a yorker was the only mode of dismissal that existed.
"For me as a child, the only mode of dismissal that existed in cricket was bowling a yorker and getting the batsman bowled because, in tennis ball cricket, that was the only thing that I used to do. There were no length balls, no bouncers, no intimidation. Either hit the toe or the base of the stump. This is how I learned about the yorker and that's my favorite mode of dismissal," said Bumrah.