Jasprit Bumrah is exceptional and his home record further elevates his legacy. He might not play many more Test in India and Sarah Waris knows she was privileged to watch him bowl in the second India-England Test.

Working in the press box with Jasprit Bumrah on the field in Visakhapatnam proved to be a tougher task than I had thought. In the middle of writing a copy, when the eyes were fixated on the screen instead of the action, a sudden roar from the crowd made you look up suddenly, as you feared missing out on a great moment.

Turns out, it was just Bumrah stopping a ball in the deep as the batters took an easy single. It was not a running stop nor was it a great piece of fielding. Just a regulation pick up, but it was enough to send the crowd in Vizag into a frenzy.

It was not that Bumrah became a favourite following his sensational five-wicket haul. He already was one as witnessed earlier in the day when he came out to bat at No.10. The short delay between Yashasvi Jaiswal walking back after his double ton and the wait for the next batter to come out was wrought with suspense: Would it be Mukesh Kumar or Bumrah? When it was confirmed that it was indeed Bumrah who was taking guard, the ground erupted.

At first, the reception given to Bumrah was surprising. No other India batter, including skipper Rohit Sharma, had been greeted by such exultant screams of his name. Neither did Bumrah have any roots in the city but in a nation still obsessing over batters and their records, the craze for him was pleasing.

Not that he did not deserve it, for he is arguably India’s best match-winner in recent times but the exclusive greeting left you wondering. It probably had to do with Bumrah’s limited home appearances in Test cricket, you thought. Having made his debut in the format in 2018, Bumrah played in India for the first time in 2021. Till the ongoing series, he played only four Tests at home, the last of which was in 2022.

Wickets: 151
Average: 20.40

Of bowlers to take 150 or more Test wickets, Bumrah has the second lowest average.

S.F. Barnes, who last played a Test in 1914, is the only bowler with more than 150 wickets and a lower average than Bumrah.#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/WPsela7hkb

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 3, 2024

India also have several Test centres unlike most countries, which often ensures there’s a considerable gap between two games in a city. Visakhapatnam, for instance, last hosted a Test in 2019, five years ago. It leaves the India players with the challenge of adjusting to different conditions repeatedly even at home, a task most other international players do not have to tackle, while the the fans are also left desperate for some Test action.

Bumrah is also not expected to play every Test in India in the future. A crucial member in all three formats, his participation will depend on his workload amid the various ICC tournaments and away tours. Bumrah is also injury prone and even if he makes himself available for a home Test series, he might not feature in every game.

In Vizag, the occasion was not lost on the supporters: They were not only around to witness a rare Test – only the third in Visakhapatnam, but also to watch Bumrah play a Test match in their city, which, it can be argued, is even rarer.

Over the next 15.5 overs, you realised why the fans turned out in the  numbers they did to see him. On a flat track where his colleagues went at five runs an over collectively, Bumrah gave away only 2.8. He did not have the greatest start, conceding 24 in his first four overs, but in a repeat of the Hyderabad Test, he staged a dramatic turnaround after lunch. He worked over Joe Root once again and then dismissed Ollie Pope with a peach of a reverse-swinging yorker, later explaining how he set him up. “I had bowled a few away going deliveries and then there was a thought going on in my head as to what do I bowl now? Should I bowl a length delivery coming in or should I go for a yorker? But I had not bowled a yorker till then. I thought okay might as well take a chance with that and it did swing a lot. The execution was good.”

Read also: Want to save Test cricket? Dial B for Bumrah

It was a Bumrah show thereafter. He sent back Jonny Bairstow with a ball that straightened as the batter played for an inswinger, creating pressure after bowling nine successive dot balls to him. He got Ben Stokes with a stunning outswinger after several bowling incomers to him in the previous spell, taking his stumps with a lower ball that left the batter amused once again. Tom Hartley and James Anderson simply had no answers after the batting connoisseurs had failed, leaving Bumrah with his 10th five-wicket haul in Tests and second in India.

He also became the second-fastest Asian quick to reach 150 Test wickets in only 34 games. It took his average at home to 12.80 and his tally in India to 26 wickets in 10 innings. Though a small sample size, it is the best any fast bowler with at least 25 scalps has managed in India. With a strike rate of 28.9, he is also the only quick to take fewer than 35 balls per wicket in the country and already has as many five-fors as Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma, the two playing 21 and 42 Tests in India, respectively.

How does he do it in India where seamers have generally struggled and where he has limited Test experience? Bumrah attributes it to his first-class days. “In first-class cricket, if you want to take wickets in India you have to learn to bowl reverse swing. Probably I learned to bowl reverse swing before the conventional swing because you play a lot of cricket on slow wickets.

“When you play abroad, you know the wickets will assist, so the number of overs will be more. Over here, I have played less number of Test matches but I have played a lot of first-class cricket. So I go back to those days and think, what do I do to get wickets, back my ability, try to find answers. Whenever I play a game, I always try to find to answers to the questions in my mind.”

Bumrah has played 23 Ranji Trophy games, picking up 83 wickets at an average of 22.43 but his last domestic game in India was back in 2017. It hints at the bowler’s immense muscle memory, with Bumrah also recently revealing to a curious Mohammed Siraj that he remembers the characteristics of different kinds of tracks even if he has played limited games on them years ago.

“But how?”, a bemused Siraj asked him. Hardik Pandya cut him short and said, “That is why he is Jasprit Bumrah. He never forgets!”

Neither will the fans who came in today, largely for Bumrah. They cheered the loudest for him and loved every bit of action he was involved in even if they were ordinary moments. But with him around, nothing really is.

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