"If that's the way angry Jasprit Bumrah will carry himself, he should get into squabbles more often!" - Zaheer Khan
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan has heaped praise on Jasprit Bumrah for his match-winning all-round effort on the final day of the Lord's Test. Zaheer said the way Bumrah channelized his anger against the Englishman was exemplary, adding that if he can be that good when irked, the 27-year-old should get into such squabbles more often.
In the third innings, Jasprit Bumrah stood his ground against England's body-line bowling plans, chirping and sledging from almost all of their players to put up an unbeaten 89-run stand with Mohammed Shami. He then came back, charged up even more, and took three wickets in the final innings to win the game by 151 runs for India.
In an interaction with Cricbuzz after the game, Zaheer Khan said:
"If that's the way he's (Jasprit Bumrah) going to carry himself on the field when angry, then he should get into such squabbles more often! Because, see, he went wicketless in the first innings and the class of bowlers he's of, he must be livid by that too. Then the chats with Anderson on the field after those bouncers, how all the England players came at him when he was batting, all those things definitely motivate you and he channelized the anger perfectly."
He added:
"Now England must be thinking: 'Should have let Bumrah bowl bouncers, we were better off without irking him.' The intensity he has bowled with is immensely praiseworthy."
Jasprit Bumrah opened his and India's accounts with the wicket of Rory Burns in the first over of the innings. He then got the all-important scalp of Joe Root for 33 runs in the 23nd over and outfoxed Ollie Robinson with a stunning slower off-cutter in the 51st over to end England's final resistance.
"Jasprit Bumrah's thought process was brilliant" - Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan specifically spoke about the slower ball which dismissed Robinson. He said that, considering the match situation and the difficulty of that delivery per se, Jasprit Bumrah did a magnificent job. He added that his brilliant thought process, inspired by the whole team's attitude, kept the pressure on England and won the game for India. The former Indian pacer said:
"Bowling a slower one is one thing, but doing so from around the wicket... if you have to get the batsman out LBW from that angle, you'll have to bowl from very close to the wicket and that's not easy. I think (Jasprit Bumrah's) thought process was brilliant because when you come around the wicket, the batsmen also think you'll bowl mostly bouncers."
He added:
"Bringing out a variation in that while keeping that wicket-taking mindset intact [was brilliant to watch]. The whole bowling lineup had these plans for wickets, the aggression to go against the England team and unsettle them - one never got the feeling that England was comfortable or might save the day."
India and England will now clash in the third Test of the five-match series at Leeds, starting August 25.