"He didn't give the batters a chance at all to be comfortable" - Ajay Jadeja lauds Jasprit Bumrah's spell in 1st India vs England ODI
Ajay Jadeja has lauded Jasprit Bumrah for not giving the England batters any breathing space in the first ODI on Tuesday, July 12.
Bumrah dismantled the England batting lineup with a spell of 6/19 in his 7.2 overs at The Oval. The hosts were bowled out for a meager 110 runs and went on to suffer a crushing 10-wicket defeat.
While reviewing the game during a discussion on Sony Sports, Jadeja was asked about Jasprit Bumrah pushing England back with two wickets in his first over itself. He replied:
"Five or six batters play in any team, so if you send out 33% of them in the first over, it is such a big impact. And the two players who he got, Joe Root is their pillar. He didn't give the batters a chance at all to be comfortable."
The former Indian opener added that the ease with which Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan chased down the target showed the significance of Bumrah's performance. Jadeja elaborated:
"The conditions were definitely favorable but they were favorable for others as well. When the Indian batters played, you got to know the significance of that even more. He did not bowl the short ball, neither was he cut nor was he pulled."
Bumrah registered figures of 4/6 in his first four overs to help reduce England to a score of 26/5 by the end of the eighth over. While the Gujarat pacer got rid of Jason Roy, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone with the new ball, Mohammad Shami accounted for Ben Stokes' wicket from the other end.
"He understands the conditions very well" - Ajay Jadeja on Jasprit Bumrah
Jadeja highlighted the contrasting modes in which Bumrah dismissed Livingstone in the second T20I and Tuesday's ODI. He observed:
"He understands the conditions very well. It is the same Liam Livingstone, whom he had dismissed with the slower one in the last match, it was a brown wicket and that was required there. Here it was swinging, so here with the swing."
The cricketer-turned-analyst concluded by putting Bumrah on a high pedestal. Jadeja said:
"Jasprit Bumrah's specialty is that he has the speed and swing, but what to do in which conditions, I have probably not seen anyone better than him."
Bumrah castled Livingstone with a slower delivery in the second T20I between the two sides. He once again rocked the stumps in Tuesday's game, this time with a big in-swinger as the destructive England batter walked across to play the ball towards the leg side.