'I only believe in Jassi bhai': The genius of Bumrah
MELBOURNE: Sam Konstas addressed the media on Monday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The 19-year-old is all set to become the youngest Test opener ever to have played for Australia. Head coach Andrew McDonald spoke to the media on Tuesday, and then Australia captain Pat Cummins followed on the eve of the Boxing Day Test.
It doesn’t matter who comes for a press conference, at some point or other, one of the questions posed in front of them is — How do you counter Jasprit Bumrah?
Even the Indian captain wasn’t spared. On Tuesday, he was asked what it is like to have Bumrah in his side and the kind of discussions he usually has with the pacer who is also now his deputy.
Six years ago, it wasn’t necessarily the case. Bumrah, at that point, was still a rookie in the longest format but had made a mark with fifers in South Africa and England before coming to Australia. Back then, the mystery was around the unique action — the discussion unfortunately still revolves around it — of a bowler who was coming up the ranks in white-ball cricket.
And then THAT delivery happened at the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. India had been searching for wickets on a slow pitch and on the brink of lunch. Sharma, who was standing at mid-off, had suggested Bumrah to try a slower one. These are two brilliant white-ball stars who have played a lot together, coming up with an idea that may or may not work. That was only the first step. The most important one, perhaps, was the execution.
Which is where the genius of Bumrah comes in. Up against Shaun Marsh on Day three, Bumrah held the ball in both hands and hopped on like he always does. As he reached the crease, he went through the same motions that he always had. Just about when he was releasing the ball, Bumrah rolled his wrist. The elder of the Marsh brothers had no idea what was gonna hit him. He waited for a thunderbolt, and the ball came right at him before dipping in front, sliding under the bat and hitting him on the toes. The finger went up and Bumrah had trapped Marsh while bowling over the critics and legends of the game.
How was he able to do that? Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey attributes it to the dexterity of his wrists. “The way he used the slower one. He's not the back of the hand, he's more like an off-spinner. Vis-a-vis, if you look at Mustafizur Rahman, he is another bowler who uses a slower one very well. Boom (Bumrah) is in the right-hand category, a much far better bowler than others in the world. But purely because of the way he uses his wrist, it is kind of like a spinner's slower one. There are a lot of forward rotations that he generates and because of that, it's like a spinner with the ball dips. That really makes a difference for the batter to really pick up,” Mhambrey told this daily earlier.
That was a peak moment for Bumrah on his first outing at the MCG. The incredible thing, and perhaps unbelievable even, is that he hasn’t come down from there in six years. If anything, he has just prolonged his time there like no one else has. And that, from an Indian point of view, is one of a kind. India have always have their batting prodigies who come in and grow into a legend — Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and so on.
Never in the history of the sport India has had someone who burst on to the scene as a superstar and has remained at that level, and has if anything, gotten better without going down ever. Bumrah hasn’t so far. Since his debut, no one, with minimum 150 Test wickets, has a lower average than he does. Only Kagiso Rabada has a marginally better strike rate than he does, but the South African gets conditions that are the most helpful for pacers across the world.
Take Kohli for example, it took him at least four years in Test cricket to become a superstar who can win matches all by himself. Bumrah did it in his debut series and has been doing it since forever. If anything, he has only gotten to ridiculous levels of consistency since coming back from injury lay off last year.
In the ongoing series against Australia, he has taken 21 wickets in three matches at an average of 10.9. The next best average is Josh Hazlewood, but he has only six wickets and is ruled out for the series. Take him out of the equation and India do not have a leg to stand on. So when an emotional Mohammed Siraj said, “I only believe in Jassi bhai, he is game changer,” in Barbados after Bumrah helped India win their long-elusive T20 World Cup, it was no exaggeration.
While a lot has been said about his action, what often not gets talked about is the genius that he is in mind and the work that goes behind the scenes. Bumrah has been a workhorse long before he came to Test cricket. In fact, on his first ever red-ball outing Down Under with India A in 2014, Bumrah took a fifer.
This time, he almost had one in Adelaide and has taken one each in Perth and Brisbane. The pin point accuracy in his execution comes with the time he puts in. “He practises all his skills that he is going to be executing and which is required in the game. He practises a lot. So, it's not only before the game, it's also after the game, there's a lot of practice sessions. He's mastered his skill, right? It's just knowing which ball to bowl at what time, that's all that really matters in his case. But he does practise,” explained Mhambrey.
Two days out from the Boxing Day Test, Bumrah is bowling at the MCG nets. Clearly, the fans have received a memo not to chant or shout at the players. He has an intense session and is easily the one who troubles the batters all the most. It had been a few hours and now Bumrah takes guard to bat. He had done it before on the field, including Brisbane, where he and Akash Deep helped India avoid follow-on. Fans had been worn down for a while in the heat and when Bumrah nails a pull in the nets, one of them couldn’t help it. “I only believe in Jassi bhai,” yells a fan and others join in.
This is just the teaser. As India take the field in front of 100000 fans on Boxing Day, the phrase will be echoed in the hallowed halls of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. For India believes in Bumrah like no other bowler in the past and he has earned it.
(With inputs from Swaroop Swaminathan)
