‘A university of fast bowling?’ – Ian Bishop wants Bumrah to ‘share his wisdom’ with the next generation

Bumrah has enjoyed a stellar run in IPL 2024 so far. With 13 wickets from seven matches at an economy of 6.07 and 5-21 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Bumrah has taken the most wickets this season so far. He has been a class above the rest in a batting-dominated season, where three totals over 250 have been scored just halfway through the tournament.

In his ESPNcricinfo column, Ian Bishop praised Bumrah, suggesting the speedster to impart his knowledge of the game to promising fast bowlers via regular lectures.

“When we hear Bumrah speak, we know that he understands the game. He’s clear in his thinking and he’s a great communicator,” Bishop wrote. “For the next generation, the Under-19 guys, and even for those who are playing alongside him, you could organise some formal Zoom meetings and have him share his wisdom with them. Bumrah doesn’t have to fly everywhere; just utilise technology.

“Let him talk through formal bowling plans, preparation, what he would do in certain situations. Let him talk through variations in pace and lengths, and how he sees the game. Expedite that learning curve. It doesn’t have to be something that happens every month – half-yearly or quarter-yearly should work.

Bishop recalled his own County Championship stint with Derbyshire where he learnt a lot from the legendary Wasim Akram. He highlighted how he gained a lot of fast-bowling insights from his seniors in the West Indies team early in his career: “I picked up something always from talking to Wasim Akram when Derbyshire played Lancashire at Old Trafford.

“I picked up a lot from Marshall, as I said. Michael Holding, when I met him briefly early in my career, gave me something that I had to sift through and that I could hold on to. You can give players a lot of inputs without overloading them with too many different opinions.

“This is like a university of fast bowling. Why not formalise it?” Bishop argued.