"I used to hate it" - Stuart Broad recalls facing Jasprit Bumrah during his playing days
Retired England seamer Stuart Broad said that he used to hate facing Jasprit Bumrah during his playing days. Reflecting on Joe Root's struggles against the right-arm speedster, Broad feels every batter in the Test arena will find it difficult to face him.
Bumrah ran through England's batting line-up on Day 2 of the 2nd Test in Vishakhapatnam, finishing with six wickets to bowl the tourists out for 253. The 30-year-old dismissed Root for the eighth time in Tests, getting him caught at slip by Shubman Gill.
In his column for The Daily Mail, the 37-year-old observed that Bumrah's release point makes all the difference. He elaborated:
"If If someone as good as Joe Root is habitually struggling with a particular bowler, you can bet your bottom dollar that every batter on the Test scene will be. Facing him isn't like facing anyone else in the world and I used to hate it. Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga, with his slingy round-arm release, had that point of difference about him and Bumrah has something similar in that his deliveries are incredibly hard to pick up."
The 167-Test veteran believes that subtle movements make Bumrah more unplayable than most bowlers.
"What makes him so dangerous when reverse-swing comes into play is that he doesn't tend to get the ball hooping - and therefore needing to start it on an exaggerated line to have an effect - but moving a very subtle amount to keep batters guessing."
Bumrah's spell changed the entire complexion of the game as England lost quick wickets after being 110-1 at one stage in response to India's 396. He took his sixth wicket of the innings in the form of James Anderson to give the hosts a 143-run lead.
"Beautiful set-up" - Stuart Broad on Jasprit Bumrah to Joe Root
Broad noted that any batter in the world would have been dismissed by the terrific yorker to Ollie Pope, adding:
"The ball that did for Root was a classic of this type: four consecutive balls ducked in, followed by one which went out. The half-bat width difference of movement proved deadly. It was a beautiful set-up by a high-class bowler. Equally, I don't think any player in the world gets a bat on the inswinging yorker that did for Ollie Pope."
While England still hold a series lead, India will fancy themselves to level it in Vizag.