INTERVIEW | Deconstructing Bumrah 'magic' in Bishop's words
Jasprit Bumrah, who took 15 wickets at an average of 8.26 and an economy of 4.17, was the Player of the Tournament in India’s title-winning campaign as they beat South Africa in the final of the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup.
From India's first game in New York till the last one in Barbados, he has been the differential point between the Men in Blue and every opponent that came their way.
In a conversation with The New Indian Express, former West Indies legend and commentator Ian Bishop delves deep into his admiration for Bumrah and what makes the Indian pacer a generational talent and more. Excerpts...
How was it like to watch Bumrah’s last two overs in the final against South Africa?
He is a genius with the ball in hand. So often we attribute that characteristic to batters in the game of cricket. But Bumrah is magic, a generational talent, and the thing that strikes me is his ability to do it across formats. His control of one, his length combined with his line is one compartment. His ability to choose when to bowl his variation and to bowl it and land it accurately is another compartment. The third is something that has always impressed me about him is just his ability to know when to bowl what, absolutely superb. And you could sense that in those two overs, he was going to change the game and he did.
Bumrah took more wickets than the number of boundaries he conceded in this T20 World Cup. How does someone make sense of it?
It is mind-blowing, but at the same time, it's inspiring because it gives this generation something to aim for. They see what excellence is live and direct and upfront in our face. And those numbers speak to a couple of things. Some of the characteristics I spoke to before, his unrelenting accuracy, his ability to have a full package of variation, the yorker, the short ball, the slow ball, the cutter and to deliver it at important times.
So we can look at the bowling mandate of this World Cup which has been without a century scored in the tournament in the modern T20 game is mind-blowing. But his economy rate there says that here's a guy who has earned his respect. People say that. I know from bowling with Curtly Ambrose and those guys on one side, they earn the respect of the opposition batters and then the batters look to come at the weaker bowler. But earning that respect comes through very good bowling over a sustained period of time. And Bumrah certainly has been doing that.
How do you look at the way Bumrah uses his variations in different phases of the game?
Let's go back to yesterday (Saturday) first. Let's start with the fact that when he uses the new ball in most conditions, he's got the prerequisite of a very upright seam. The delivery that got Reeza Hendricks, for example, was a beautiful outswinger cum leg cutter. The upright seam that hits the pitch and decks away or straightens. So he's got that ability to swing the ball as well as to seam the ball, which will serve him well and has served him well across formats.
In red-ball cricket, if you can move the ball at that pace, you're onto a good thing. His ability to hit that length and then to Marco Jansen, the one that comes back between the gates, is the opposite sort of variation.
We've heard Jasprit talk about how he chooses when to go stump hunting or pole hunting, as he will bowl a straight yorker or he will go for a wide yorker. And you can't just be onto the front foot against him because he's got that short ball to keep you honest. I mean, (laughs), listen, I know there's a lot of people out there who appreciate this guy. I know that for a fact. And I keep saying it, we still have to continue to appreciate him. He won't be around forever. And his teachings... even for someone who's been around this game, how long have I been around for now? 40 years? He's still mind-blowing.
We have seen him come up with different approaches and plans for batters at either end, as he did against Klaasen and Miller. How is he able to constantly do that on the spot?
For all the things, all components that we talked about before are important. The ability to move the ball laterally, the ability to have those change-ups, the short ball, the cutter, the slower ball. He doesn't have a knuckleball. I've never seen him bowl a knuckleball. I don't think he bowls the leg cutter, where he rolls his fingers to the other side of the ball. So those things I'm sure he'll add to his skill set later on, but he's patient as well, right?
I want to emphasise patience here because, having acquired all the skills of accuracy, the ability to swing and seam the ball, the yorker, the bouncer—I mean, the full package. You'll hear him say this: he doesn't overdo hunting wickets, not in this format. He chooses his moments. And I think to your question, this is very key to almost being ahead of the batter in understanding what a batter will be trying to do and being able to stay ahead and counter that. And that is a feel thing. Through experience, you just get a sense as a bowler as you're walking back to your mark. This is the situation of the game. This is what the batting team needs to do, and this is what that batter might try to do. So I am going to bowl against this plan and I think Bumrah does that to perfection.
Even in the final, Klaasen and Miller tried to play him out. How does a pacer like him adapt and still look for wickets?
Well, that's where he's earned the respect, right? He has earned that respect, but it's not false in that sometimes you can see an opposition player paid too much respect to a player. Let's say for a bowler where he gets a bad ball and you don't put it away because you're trying to be so secure. Bumrah has that. He's demanded that, but on the other side, he very rarely gives you that bad ball. I'm sure Klaasen and Miller would have wanted to squeeze something out of him yesterday.
But even when he bowls that full toss, for example, which has happened at times when he misses his yorker because of the unusual nature of his action where he releases the ball a little further ahead of most other bowlers and his wrist work, which is totally legal, it is so acute. And people overlook that, that flick of the wrist, that last flick of the wrist, the locking of it and the unlocking of it is something that is more extreme in his bowling than many of us to give you that extra half a yard of pace. Guys miss out on a full toss him because it's on to you so quickly. And then, you talk about the hard length. You can't play the horizontal bat shot and you can't hit it on the ground. So, this is a guy at the peak of his powers. I'll say it again. We have to appreciate him.
There have been occasions where Bumrah was at his peak against a batter who took him down in their previous showdown, but if you ask about it he would say that he does not think about it and all he does is focus on one ball at a time....
(Laughs) No, he remembers. That is just Jasprit, he remembers. The best fast bowlers have memories like elephants. And that's a key part of the art form. In remembering the strength and weakness of a player. Of course, you've got the video analysts who will also remind you but Bumrah in the back of his mind, will know where Klaasen was strong or weak, where Miller has been strong and weak and operate in those areas. And when he says one ball at a time, he's saying, ‘I'm not getting too far ahead of myself’.
Now, what I'm going to say is contradictory, right? Contradictory in this sense, you don't want to get too far ahead of yourself. But Bumrah also knows that wicket-taking in any format of the game is not in isolation. It is a sequence of deliveries. Go back to the Hendricks dismissal. I said the ball to Quinton de Kock swung and seamed. It was seam up and swung. It would have been a good ball to a right-hander. On that occasion, it wasn't a great delivery, but that gave information that once the right hander came on strike, if I make a subtle adjustment, the end result is exactly what happened to Hendricks.
Great fast bowlers, and I would classify Bumrah in that, are able to know when to stay in the moment. But also a lot of fast I've interacted with and my own experiences, we rush it. We think wicket every ball. It doesn't happen like that in any format. In some formats, it takes longer than others.
You are one of the biggest admirers of Bumrah and even went on to say that you would award him a doctorate in fast bowling if you could. His skill sets are one thing, but his in-depth knowledge and the awareness to execute it with precision...where do you put him?
I mean, I was talking to Rohit yesterday at the post-match presentation. And his answer was self-explanatory, genius, as you said. But do we need to give him a title now? There's still a bit of time yet. History will award him his due place in the pantheon of great fast bowlers across formats.
What I think we need to do, as I said, is show him appreciation. You and I have been talking. I know millions of people across India and across the world give him appreciation. It is to ensure that his knowledge and while he's at the peak of his powers, his execution is not missed by the next generation.
When I say, award him a PhD, I'm not joking about that. I'm not taking that lightly. What I'm saying is the guy is so articulate and such a great communicator of his skill set that the upcoming generation and even those alongside him, like Arshdeep and Siraj and all of those guys, can expedite their learning curve just by interacting. As I'm sure Arshdeep and Siraj have done, interacting with him, picking his brain, learning from him and then building their own DNA into that framework that he's given them and making it their own.
If we waste this opportunity because I've played underneath in the sense that coming after some great fast bowlers, right? So I'm speaking from experience. If we don't formally utilise the skills of these great players, and that can extend to Rohit and Virat Kohli, etc., we would have wasted another chance to push the game further forward.