After a rare session won by England on Saturday morning, Jasprit Bumrah did what he does best – leave the world smiling at his genius. Sarah Waris looks at the brief period of play that further stamped his greatness.
The crowd came in huge numbers once again, half-expecting India to wrap up the game on Saturday itself. With a 175-run lead already and a well-set Ravindra Jadeja batting alongside Axar Patel at the start of the day’s play, India were well in the driver’s seat.
Two hours in and frown lines started appearing. India lost their last three wickets with no further addition to the score, making it the second instance in as many games when they have lost their last three batters for nought. India took a 190-run lead, which was soon reduced to less than 100 as a glimpse of ‘Bazball’ on Indian shores was witnessed.
England scored at 3.86 runs an over in the first session for the loss of just one wicket as the Indians showed signs of crumbling. R Ashwin faltered with his bowling speeds, bowling quicker than desired for most parts, while Rohit Sharma’s defensive captaincy allowed easy singles to be taken. There could have been a case to bowl Mohammed Siraj alongside Bumrah with the new ball, but with the track showing considerable wear and tear, Ashwin was given the duty.
The noise around the stadium on the first two days of the Test would have made you question why the future of the format was a worry, with dholaks and chants followed by random rounds of applause. On Saturday morning, the spectators were at their vociferous best again, this time with a different purpose, as they looked to encourage the hosts who were on the backfoot for the first time in the game. On the field, KL Rahul, in the absence of Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant led the banter, but the intensity soon gave way as stooped shoulders trudged back for lunch.
India began with spin after the break and introduced Bumrah, for only his third over, from the other end. On a wicket that slowed down over the last two days, Bumrah’s role was expected to be brief. It ended up being a short one – he bowled only five overs in the spell – but was also crucial, bringing back not only India in the game but also the buzz in the stadium.
He started with a length ball to Ollie Pope before bowling three deliveries in the high 130s that angled in. Two balls later, Ben Duckett, anticipating an outswinger by Bumrah, who was bowling round the wicket, stayed in his crease and sent it to the off-side but was left surprised as the ball came in. Bumrah immediately went up in appeal, which was turned down by the umpire. He looked to skipper Rohit, who was advised against going for the DRS by keeper KS Bharat. As the replays were shown on the big screen, the usually mild Bumrah raised his hands in despair looking around at his teammates who had let him down.
He would have vowed to do the job alone himself next time, but the plan did not go as he would have wanted, giving away two fours to Duckett in the first four balls of his next over. The ball swung away the first three times before Bumrah bowled one that angled down leg for four. Bumrah, however, did not lose sight of the plan: The fourth ball was a perfect in-swinger that nicked back in after hitting the seam. The batter, playing for the outswing, was completely bamboozled as an uncharacteristic roar from Bumrah increased the decibel volumes at the ground.
And this is what sets Bumrah apart. Equipped with an excellent seam position, Bumrah is one of the rare bowlers who can move the ball in and take it away from the batter. The action does not give away the kind of delivery that will be bowled either, leaving batters with only a split second to adjust.
Irfan Pathan had dissected Bumrah’s skill to bowl both outswing and inswing with minimal changes to his action on Star Sports during the World Cup last year: “If you focus on his wrists and seam position, the seam position is towards fine leg when he bowls inswing and towards slip when he bowls outswing. There is no change in action, just the wrist’s control and balance. This is praiseworthy bowling and it is impossible for the batter to pick it at a speed of 140 kph.”
The next over, Bumrah mixed it up to Root. He started by bowling a length ball that came in before sending down two deliveries that moved away from the batter. To Pope, he excellently mixed up his pace, dropping down to 122.5kmph after a 143.1kmph yorker. Up against Root for the last ball, Bumrah increased his pace once again, going at 140.4 clicks an hour as the inswinger kept rising after beating his inside edge. On commentary, it was analysed that the seam of the ball pointed to slip, indicating an outswinger, but the result was another indication of the pure craft of the bowler as Bumrah knocked out Root for the seventh time.
Bumrah gets the ball to reverse swing, he is fast and he is furious. He has all the exponents a young quick aspires to have – a lethal bouncer, a magical slower ball, the nagging yorkers, the ability to bowl both outswing and inswing along with an enviable trajectory. He has that mastery to get the ball talking even on unproductive wickets, the magic to single-handedly slow down the efforts of England’s new batting revolution.
But most importantly, he forces snoozing fans to sit up in anticipation whenever he has the ball, the murmurs slowly building up into a crescendo as he runs in to bowl.
Want to save Test cricket? Maybe it’s time you Dial B for Bazball Bumrah instead.
