Not since Kapil Dev in 1978 has an Indian fast bowler made such a huge impact in his first year in Test cricket as Jasprit Bumrah. His selection in the first Test against South Africa at the beginning of 2018 was hued with skepticism, but less than 12 months later Bumrah has become the spearhead of the attack.
It would be ludicrous to stretch the comparison with Kapil Dev, one of the greatest all-rounders in the world and with 434 wickets to his credit, any further. To stand alongside Kapil as bowler alone, Bumrah has to show such proficiency for at least a decade.
But what Bumrah has clearly done is give the Indian bowling a cutting edge which had been lacking for a fair while, especially in overseas matches. This became evident In Australia’s first innings in the third Test at Melbourne where he demolished the home team with 6 wickets for just 34 runs.
While variable bounce in the pitch was of some assistance, Bumrah’s success was tribute more to his skills, control and intelligence. At least six of his eight wickets — till the fourth day — seemed to emerge from some plan
What makes Bumrah tick? An unorthodox style and approach is of some advantage no doubt. A shortish run up with staccato steps leading into the delivery stride and an open-chested action gives little clue to the hot pace can generate and the awkward bounce he derives.
Yet modern cricket, driven by every video and data analysis that coaches and players feed off continuously, this kind of surprise element can’t last long. What then comes into play is Bumrah’s other virtues.
He hardly ever gives batsmen freebies, rather burdens them with the onus of playing virtually every delivery, with superb discipline over line and length.
Over the year, Bumrah has also added variety to his repertoire, getting the ball to swing both ways, using the width of the crease to probe batsmen from different angles, mixing the short delivery judiciously with the stock deliveries, and using the slower ball as a surprise.
His dismissal of Shaun Marsh leg before wicket in the first innings of the Melbourne Test is being hailed as the delivery of the series: after a series of 140+kmph thunderbolts came the dipping 112kmph yorker which caught the stupefied batsman plumb in front.
In my view, this dismissal represents the best quality of Bumrah’s bowling: the ability to outthink batsmen. He does not rely just on pace and bounce to hustle batsmen, but keeps them on tenterhooks about what he will do next.
Bumrah’s learning curve has gone dramatically northwards in the past 12 months. Having won his spurs in limited overs cricket, he wasn’t considered the best option for the five-day format till Kohli and Shastri punted on him in South Africa. Since then he hasn’t looked back, and has five wicket hauls in South Africa, England and Australia, testimony not just to his ability, but how well and quickly he adjusts and adapts to different conditions.
Soft-spoken and shorn of histrionics, he is the quiet, cerebral type, eager to learn, constantly looking to improve his skills. How well he’s done this is reflected in the wickets he’s taken this year: 47 in just 9 Tests as I write this, at a fantastic strike rate of 47.1.
Bumrah’s rise in consonance with the performance of India’s other fast bowlers — notably Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami — scripts a fascinating story of how the accent in Indian cricket has shifted from spin to pace.
Between them, the three have taken a whopping 134 wickets this year in Tests India have played! This is an extraordinary, unprecedented statistic. Never before have India’s fast bowlers picked up so many wickets in a year. Why, in two Tests, the playing XI did not feature a single spinner!
This was unimaginable even a couple of years back. Moreover, India’s bench strength boasts of high quality bowlers like Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav — and the list of hopefuls keeps growing. The sad part, however, is that in spite of the sterling effort of these fast bowlers, India were let down by batsmen in most of the overseas Tests played in 2018, else there would have been more victories than defeats.
Has that depressing situation changed with the batting coming good at Melbourne? We should have a good idea by the end of the series at Sydney in the new year.
