“It was red mist but it was channeled” - When Jasprit Bumrah opened up on Lord’s alteration with James Anderson
Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah is known as one of the nice guys of cricket. However, being a fast bowler, it's difficult to stay away completely from verbal altercations. The Indian cricketer too has had his share of skirmishes in the recent past.
One of the most talked about incidents featuring Bumrah is his altercation with England's fast bowling legend James Anderson during the 2021 Lord’s Test. Rather uncharacteristically, the right-arm pacer bowled a barrage of bouncers at Anderson, who's not known for his batting.
One of Bumrah’s overs lasted 10 balls, as there were four no-balls. It was clear that the Team India pacer was specifically targeting Anderson and ended up hitting him more than once, which, obviously, did not go down well with the England fast bowler.
Opening up on the much-talked about incident, Bumrah told The Guardian in an interview that he tried to check on the England tailender mid-over but did not get a ‘good response’.
“I was tired, I thought the last wicket was there, I tried to push to bowl fast. I went up to him (mid-over), asked ‘Are you OK?’ and didn’t get a good response. So that brought back some young memories; trying to be the nice guy and it not being taken well. And it triggered the whole team.
"It was red mist, but it was channelled. Fighting and playing is second nature to us; controlling that is self-taught,” Bumrah was quoted as saying in The Guardian interview.
India went on to win that Test by 151 runs, with KL Rahul scoring a fine hundred and Mohammed Siraj picking up eight wickets.
What Jasprit Bumrah said about his comparison with James Anderson
Bumrah was the Player of the Match for claiming nine wickets in the second Test of the ongoing series against England in Visakhapatnam. In the post-match press conference, he played down comparisons with England legend Anderson and commented:
"No not really (no competition with Anderson).Before a cricketer, I'm a fast bowling fan. If somebody's doing well, kudos to them. I look at the situation, at the wicket and think what are my options. I should not be a one-trick pony.”
In another major honor for the Indian fast bowler, he became the No. 1 ranked Test bowler in the ICC player rankings. The 30-year-old has 881 points and is followed by Kagiso Rabada (851) and Ravichandran Ashwin (841).