For a young Jasprit Bumrah watching yorkers on television gave him a thrill. It was the first delivery that stuck in his mind. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were the finest exponents and Bumrah was inspired.
Watching Bumrah with a ball in hand is a thrilling experience, even from as far away as the media enclosure at a cricket ground. He bowled a mean yorker on Friday to dismiss Taskin Ahmed. But there was also a beautiful delivery to Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh’s best Test batsman.
Batsmen know the ball with their number on it is coming, but more often than not they don’t know what to do when it arrives. They are left clueless and are befuddled when they trudge back to the pavilion.
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Bumrah’s ball to dismiss Mushfiqur today was the result of the special skill to make the ball pitch right between the two seams.
It won’t move sideways after pitching, but it would bounce up with a bolt upright seam and get into a shape to swing post pitching.— Bishontherockz (@BishOnTheRockx) September 20, 2024
Since his return to Test cricket earlier this year against England, Bumrah has already conjured moments of brilliance that fans would remember for years to come. When India were left dazed and confused by Bazball, it was Bumrah who brought them back and ultimately showed the way.
On Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, India needed Bumrah again. The conditions, pitch and the heat posed challenges. The pacers were finding it tough to grip the ball because it was sultry. Even with the new ball, only a bit of lateral movement was on offer. The spinners were unable to get any purchase and didn’t cause any trouble to the Bangladesh batsmen.
So Bumrah was needed. He responded in the first over itself by removing Shadman Islam. But it was in the post-lunch session that he delivered the killer blow. Mushfiqur Rahim was in the middle. Mushfiqur is among the most consistent performers in Test cricket, on route to become the first Bangladeshi to play 100 Tests. He is their in form batsman too. He had to see out Bumrah.
Mushfiqur is experienced enough to understand what Bumrah is trying to do. With no swing on offer, Bumrah’s full deliveries were already nullified. There was no reverse-swing to worry about like England’s Ollie Pope had to in Vizag. Bumrah tests him with good length deliveries, Mushfiqur is happy to shoulder arms to ones that shape away and get the bat on to ones that come in. This goes on for eight deliveries. Bumrah is mixing it up with the one that goes away and one that comes in until the ninth one arrives with Mushfiqur’s name on it.
Watching it come out of Bumrah’s hand, the 37-year-old prepares to play the angle of the line, assuming it would come in as the ones that shaped away in that over had all been a bit wide. But Bumrah loves to bluff every now and then, just to spice up contests. This one comes in with the angle, but the lateral movement means it takes the edge as KL Rahul accepts the offering at second slip. Mushfiqur paused for a moment, replayed the delivery in his mind and played a shadow defence. He went with a textbook shot, but Bumrah often tends to come up with deliveries outside of the syllabus.
“Just assessing the wicket that time, the ball was a bit old and there was not a lot of movement, but there was a spongy bounce. So I was just assessing my options, because when I bowled fuller there was not much deviation. So I was just thinking about my options and how to make run-making difficult. And it was a good day and I got the outside edge,” Bumrah told JioCinema about how he set up Mushfiqur.
The ball was 41 overs old now. In home Tests, Bumrah averages 10.6 with the old ball (25 overs and above) and has a strike-rate of 21.7. Taskin Ahmed, the next man in, expected the toe-crusher. But Bumrah showed no signs of delivering one in the absence of reverse-swing. However, in this extreme heat, he is bending his back and bowls a bouncer. It is a delivery that he doesn’t use often in Tests. In the first attempt, he hits Taskin on his helmet. He doesn’t bowl another in nine deliveries. In the 43rd over, deliveries three well-directed short balls, including one nasty one that Taskin survives. But he is already rattled and now Bumrah goes back to the age-old trick, sending in a yorker that lands right on the crease. It is so precise that it just hits the base of the middle and leg stump. Fast bowling exhibition of the highest order.
